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THE NURSE.

Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2017 with funding from
Wellcome Library

https://archive.org/details/b28775739

THE

N U R S E ,

A

POEM.

TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN

OF

LUIGI TANSILLO.

BY WILLIAM ROSCOE.

LIVERPOOL,

PRINTED BY J. McCREERY,

FOR CADELL AND DAVIES, STRAND,

LONDON.

1798.

Luigi TANSILLO, the author of the following poem, was a
native of Noia, a very ancient city of the kingdom of Naples and
distinguished as a Roman colony. His family was of high rank
and had been honoured by many public employments. In what
year he was born is not with certainty known ; but that event
is conjectured, with great probability, to have taken place about
the year 1510. The chief part of his life was spent in a military
capacity, in the service of Don Piero di Toledo, Marquis of Villa-
Franca, and Viceroy of Naples ; and of Don Garzia his son, af-
terwards Viceroy of Sicily and Catalonia, under Philip the se-
cond ; but the particulars of it have not been preserved to the
present times so minutely as his merits seem to have required. —
A poet and a soldier, he lived a long, and probably a diversified
life ; but although some incidents respecting it are of sufficient
notoriety, the attempt to trace it through a regular narrative,
would now be of no avail.

The result of this union of occupations in Tansillo, was ex-
emplified in a want of due attention to his literary productions,
few of which were published in his life time, and of the remain-
der scarcely any one received those advantages of revisal and cor-
rection, without which works of taste must alw ays appear to dis-
advantage,

4

advantage. Notwithstanding these circumstances, his character
as a poet stood high even among the most eminent of his contem-
poraries. In the dialogue of Torquato Tasso, entitled II Gonzago,
that celebrated author enumerates Tansillo amongst the few wri-
ters to whose sonnets he gives the appellation of leggiadre , or
elegant. The same opinion has been confirmed by subsequent
critics, cited by Zeno in his Giornale d' Italia , voi. xi. one of
whom in particular has not hesitated to assert that Tansillo is
a much better lyric poet than even Petrarca himself. It must
however be observed, that this kind of commendation, which is
intended to elevate one distinguished character at the expense of
another, is of all praise the most equivocal. As every good au-
thor has his peculiar excellencies, so he will have his peculiar ad-
mirers. What purpose is answered by disputing whether the
grape, the nectarine, or the pine apple, be the most exquisite
fruit ?

The first production by which Tansillo distinguished himself
was a poem in ottava rima , which injured his moral character
as much as it increased his reputation for talents and for wit.
Perhaps no part of modern Europe has retained the customs of the
ancients with so little variation as the kingdom of Naples, and
particularly the provinces of Appulia and Calabria, where the
most singular, and even obscene ceremonies are yet continued ;
the object in honour of whom they are performed being only
changed from a heathen deity, to a modern saint, lhat liberty,
or rather licentiousness of speech in which the Romans indulged
their servants at a particular period of the year, and to which
Horace adverts in the seventh satire of his second book, seems to

have been transferred by the Neapolitans to a more, cheerful sea-
son,

son, and their Saturnalia may be said to have been celebrated
at the time of their vintage. At this time all respect to rank, to
sex, and even to decency, seems to be entirely discarded, and the
lowest of the peasantry, whilst engaged in the vintage, employ
the most abusive and licentious language, not only to their fel-
low labourers, but to any persons who may happen to be present
on this occasion. “ At vero vindemiatores, ea die qua pro quo-
“ quam vindemiam faciunt, atque per totum vindemiae tempos,
“ Baccho deo pieni esse, ac furere prorsus videntur. In agro
“ quinetiam, in quo vindemiant, semper pudibunda vindemiando
“ inclamant, obscamasque quisque partes suis nominibus pronun-
“ ciantes, veneres vel obscoenissimas se optare exclamant. Mo-
u nentem vero si quis eos castigare velit, derident, ac exerta lin-
“ gua contemnunt, oreque ipso in eum oppedunt : pudor nullus :
“ reverentia omnis deleta est in eis : loquendi summa licentia at-
“ que arrogantia in promptu est. Demum non homines videntur
“ sed Satyri ac Bacchi sacerdotes, petulantes, injurii, lascivientes
“ luxuriantes.” Such is the portrait of his countrymen at this sea-
son given by Ambrogio Leone, an historian of Noia; but no sooner
is the vintage completed, than these frantic Bacchanals are restored
to their senses, and ail their obscenity, folly, and abuse, is imme-
diately forgotten. This extraordinary custom is the subject of the
poem of Tansillo, to which he therefore gave the title of II Ven-
demmiatore, and in which he introduces one of those extravagant
characters addressing himself to his fellow labourers, not indeed
with all the ribaldry which probably takes place on these occa-
sions, but with much more freedom than a strict regard to de-
cency will allow. The licentiousness of this piece was, it is
true, in some degree concealed, if not compensated, by the wit
and delicate humour with which it abounds ; for, as a late noble

author

author has justly observed, “ indecency is far from conferring wit,
but it does not destroy it neither.” But the admiration which it
excited did not prevent its producing a most unfavourable effect
on the fortunes of the author, who seems during the remainder
of his days severely to have felt the consequences of his early
imprudence, and to have endeavoured to make amends for it by
a more regulated conduct and by more serious labours.

This poem was written whilst the author was attending the
vintage in the year 15 34, and when he was consequently about
twenty-four years of age. On the first of October, in that year,
he sent a copy of it to his friend Caraffa, at Naples, intreating him
not to make it public, but to suffer it to perish by the moths in a
gradual and natural decay. “ Because,” says he, “ it would be
“ too severe and cruel an act to destroy my own offspring,
“ however base-born and illegitimate it may be.” Notwith-
standing this injunction, it made its appearance in the same year
at Naples, in a small quarto of eight leaves, under the before
mentioned title, and was afterwards printed with many variations,
in several collections of Italian poetry. The obscene Stanze in
lode della Menta , have also been attributed to Tansillo, and bear
so strong a resemblance to his manner, that they have in some
editions been united with, and form a part of the Vendemmiatore .

In the year 15 3Q, Tansillo accompanied his great benefactor
Don Garzia di Toledo, then general of the Neapolitan galleys to
Sicily, where, in the month of December in the same year, that
nobleman gave a splendid reception to Donna Antonia Cardona,
daughter of the Marquis of Collesano, to whom he then paid his
addresses. On this occasion Tansillo wrote a pastoral comedy,

which

7

which was performed with the greatest degree of splendor and
expense. The stage made use of for this purpose was raised upon
the water, and consisted of three large gallies, which were placed
at regular distances, so as nearly to adjoin the gardens of the pa-
lace, and over which a platform was laid, extending to the shore ;
the whole was then covered with canvas, and lined with exquisite
tapestry, representing, like the palace of Dido, the most remark-
able circumstances of the Trojan war. From the description
given of the representation of this piece, Fontani ni conjectures,
that Tansillo is entitled to the honour of being the first Italian
who set the example of the pastoral comedy which was after-
wards brought to perfection by Tasso and Guarini, but in this,
as in many other particulars respecting Italian literature, he is
mistaken ; for it is certain that the first idea of this elegant spe-
cies of comedy was given by Politiano in the preceding century
in his dramatic fable entitled Orfeo .

However unfavourable may be the inferences against the
morals and manners of Tansillo, arising from his early works, it
is no less certain that his life was honourable and his conduct ir-
reproachable ; but in the year 155Q, all his writings, which at that
time consisted only of the Vendemmiatore , and a few lyric produc-
tions, were inserted by Pius IV. in the Index ExJjurgatorius ,
under the title of Aloysii Tansilli Carmina ; a circumstance which
appears to have given him no small degree of concern. For some
time prior to this event he had employed his leisure on a poem of
considerable extent, entitled Le lagrime di San Piero — The
Tears of St. Peter.; which subject it is highly probable he
chose in allusion to his regret in having been the author of the
Vendemmiatore . Not however having brought it to a termination

when

8

when this weighty sentence was passed upon his works, he ad-
dressed an ode to the Pope, in which he endeavours, by the hum-
blest submission, and the most respectful entreaties, to induce
him to remove the censures under which he laboured, asserting,
that the tenor of his life had never been injured by the levity of
his writings.

Fu , gran Padre , la carta ,

Vana talor , la vita sempre onesta,

E tal sarà quanto di lei mi resta.

Chaste was my life, tho’ wanton was my page,

Nor shall one blot deform my riper age.

This, it is true, has been the apology of all licentious authors
from the days of Catullus, but with respect to Tansillo, it is to be
regarded, as Zeno admits, not as a poetical fiction, but as the
dictates of truth. The language in which he proceeds to condemn
the verses of his youth, are peculiarly strong and impressive.

Peccai, me stesso accuso, a Dio rivolte,

Ho lingua e mano; ambedue tronche & secche,

Vorrei piùtosto, eli esser qual già fui
Cagion talor d'obliqui essempj altrui.

I own my fault — in youthful years unaw’d
My hands — my tongue — were rais’d against my God.
Sever’d, or shrivell’d, may they hide my crimes.

Ere my example injure future times.

He fails not however to make a just and pointed distinction be-
tween his Vendemmiatore and his other writings ; contending, that

although

9

although divine and human laws often punish the children for the
crimes of the parent, it had never been usual to extend the pu-
nishment due to the guilty to all his innocent brethren. He then
adverts to his poem on the tears of St. Piero, expressing his hopes
that it will not only compensate for his early writings, but obtain
him true honour and reputation. The effect produced on the
mind of the Pope by this pathetic address, exceeded even the
hopes of the author, and in the next publication of the Index, not
only the works of Tansillo were omitted, but even the poem of
the Vendemmiatore was not to be found.

In the year 1551 Tansillo accompanied his great patron Don
Garzia, on a successful expedition against the coast of Barbary,
in which Don Garzia, under the auspices of Charles V. had the
command of the Spanish fleet, and captured the city anciently
called Aphrodisium. His associate, as well in his dangers, as in
his amusements, Tansillo enjoyed the highest favour of this dis-
tinguished commander, who boasted, that he had in his service
a Homer and an Achilles united in the same person; and Tansillo
has more than recompensed his favour by the honourable mention
which he has made of his patron in different parts of his works.

Of all the productions of Tansillo, the most estimable, as well

in respect of the subject, as of the manner of execution, are his

poems entitled Va Balia , or The Nurse, and II Podere , or

The Country House; in the latter of which he gives directions

for making a proper choice of a country residence, enlivening

»

the barrenness of his subject with the happiest illustrations, and
the most sportive wit. These poems, after the death of their au-
thor, were long neglected, although several persons have, at

different

10

different times, given indications of their existence. In particu-
lar the Venetian printer Barezzo Barezzi, who published in the
year lOoo an edition of the Lagrime di San Piero , which is the
best edition now extant, promised in his advertisement prefixed
to that work, to give the public some beautiful Cajiitoli of the
same author; which expression it is supposed could only relate to
these poems, the former of which consists of two, and the latter
of three capitoli, or cantos. Zeno also informs us, that many of
the compositions of Tansillo undoubtedly lay buried in the Italian
libraries, and adverts to a few of his poems, which had not
then been in print.

In the year I/O/, about two centuries after the death of the
author, Giovan Antonio Ranza, regius professor of polite litera-
ture at Vercelli, had the good fortune to meet with a MS. copy of
these two poems, accompanied with the Vendemmiatore , and the
Stanze in lode della Aleuta, from which he gaye to the public
the first edition of the Balia, accompanied w ith many learned
annotations. At the same time he informs us, that he had al-
so written notes on the Podere, which would make its appear-
ance in a tew months, the reception of which he hoped would
not be less favourable than that of the Balia. From some cir-
cumstances this promise was not fulfilled, and the Podere was
not published, till the year 1770, when it was printed at Turin
by Bonaventura Porro, to whom Ranza had conceded the MS.
though without his notes ; and was published by Zatta at Ve-
nice. An anonymous editor has, however enriched this edition
by citing the passages from the ancient authors, which Tansillo
has frequently imitated, in which he professes his intention to
second the views of the author, who in a letter written in the

year

year 1566, to Antonio Scarampi, bishop of Noia, accompanying
the two poems of the Balia, and the Podere, thus expresses himself,
“ You may now judge for yourself, whether I have known how
« to distinguish the properties of a good soil, to erect my villa,
<< and to avail myself of the Mantuan hard, and of other writers.”

That Tansillo had entered into the married state, and had su-
peradded to the relation of a husband, that of a father, are circum-
stances only known from the ensuing poem. The time of his
death is not less uncertain than that of his birth. Tiraboschi
places this event in 15q6, but Zeno conjectures it to have hap-
pened in the year 156g, whilst he was governor of Gaeta. At
least in that year it is certain that he received as his guest Scipio
Ammirato, then on his way to Florence, who relates in his
Opus culi, that Tansillo being much indisposed and advanced in
years, did not survive that event many months, nor had Zeno
discovered any documents which tended to shew that the life of
Tansillo had been extended beyond that year. It is however pro-
bable that some error has arisen either in the time assigned by
Zeno to his birth, or in that of his death, as a person at the age of
fifty-nine, can scarcely be considered as having reached a very ad-
vanced period of life.

With respect to the poem, of which an English translation is
now attempted, it may certainly be considered as a singular and
interesting production. As the work of one of the brightest wits
in that constellation of Genius which appeared in Italy in the

sixteenth

12

sixteenth century, and which yet diffuses a permanent light over

the horizon of literature, it is worth notice and consideration.

%

Contemporary with Ariosto, with Bembo, with Casa, and with the
two Tassos, Tansillo was not perhaps inferior to any writer of
his time in the simplicity of his diction, the elegance of his taste,
or a strict adherence to nature and to truth. But independent of
the merit which the poem may be presumed to possess from the
acknowledged character of the author, it will be found on exami-
nation to contain within itself sufficient claims to the approbation
of the admirers of Italian poetry. The subject is in a high degree
interesting, and is treated in a manner peculiarly pointed and
direct, yet without violating that decorum which is due to the
public at large, and in particular to the sex to whom it is ad-
dressed. To those who feel the laudable curiosity, and ac-
knowledge the utility of comparing the manners of different ages,
it will afford many striking indications of the state of society at
the period in which it was written, and will tend to shew, that
the ideas and feelings of mankind on all subjects of general con-
cern, are much less liable to variation from the diversity of time
and place, than is frequently supposed. Such is the coincidence
between the state of manners in Italy in the sixteenth century,
and in England in the eighteenth, that the translator, though in-
tending to accommodate the poem to modern times, has seldom
found it expedient to vary from the original in the slightest de-
gree, and if he has not wholly failed in his purpose, he thinks it
will appear that it would be difficult even in the present day to
adduce arguments more pointedly directed than those of the au-
thor against the abuse which it was his purpose to reform.

It

13

It is not the translators intention to assert, that a previous
consideration of these circumstances led him to undertake the pre-
sent version of the poem. The truth is, that having of late en-
joyed a greater share of leisure than he has formerly experienced,
he has employed some part of it pleasantly to himself, if not use-
fully to others, in an occupation, which without requiring the
exertion of original composition, satisfies the besoin d ’ agir , and
by calming the reproaches, allays the irritation of total indolence.
He must also be allowed to observe, that the hope of promoting
in some degree the laudable object which the author himself had
in view, if it did not lead him to undertake the translation, ope-
rated as a chief inducement to lay it before the public. That the
character and manners of our countrymen, both in higher and
lower life, affords but too much room for reform, is an assertion
which may be made without incurring the imputation of morose-
ness ; but till we can decidedly point out those circumstances
which give rise to this laxity, not to say depravity of manners of
the present day, it will be to no purpose to adopt measures for
their improvement. Of these causes the custom, still so prevalent,
of committing the children of the richer and middle ranks of so-
ciety to be brought up by the poor, is, in the opinion of the tran-
slator, one of the most efficacious, and like all other vicious insti-
tutions, its effects are injurious to all the parties who engage in it.
The reason generally assigned by medical men for promoting a
custom which has of late received their almost universal sanction,
is, that the mode of living which now prevails in the higher ranks,
is such, as renders it impossible for a woman to afford her in-
fant those advantages which are indispensably necessary to its ex-
istence and support. But is it possible to conceive a severer satire

against

14

against the female sex than this assertion implies ? Such it seems
is the rage for pleasure and amusement, that it must be gratified
even by the sacrifice of the most important duties of life, and by
a practice, which if generally extended, would endanger the very
existence of the human race. The assistance of a nurse is not
then intended as a benefit to the child, but as a licence to the mo-
ther to pursue her gratifications, without those restraints which
the performance of her own proper and indispensible duties would
impose upon her, and by the due exercise of which she would
find her health and her affections equally improved. To trace
the consequences of this practice further, would here be unne-
cessary, as they will be found adverted to in the ensuing poem,
which, if it should produce in any degree the effect which its
author intended, will be a much better compensation to mankind,
for the indiscretions of his youthful pen, than even his poem on
the Lagrime di San Piero .

The translator has only further to observe, that for the great-
er part ot the authorities and quotations referred to in the notes,
he is indebted to the Italian editor Ranza, the few additional ob-
servations which accompany them, are too unimportant to re-
quire an apology.

SONNET.

TO MRS. R.

As thus in calm domestic leisure blest,

I wake to British notes th* ausoni AN strings,

Be thine the strain ; for what the poet sings
Has the chaste tenor of thy life exprest.

And whilst delighted, to thy willing breast,
iVith rosy Up thy smiling infant clings,

Pleas’d I reflect, that from those healthful springs
— Ah not by thee with niggard love repr est —

Six sons successive, and thy later care,

Two daughters fair have drank ; for this be thine
Those best delights approving conscience knows,

And whilst thy days with cloudless suns decline,

May filial love thy evening couch prepare,

And sooth thy latest hours to soft repose.

W. R .

LA BALIA .

CAPITOLO PRIMO.

DONNE ben nate , i cui bei colli / ireme
Quel santissimo giogo d’ Imeneo ,

Onde buon frutto sfera ogni uman seme ;

Se già mai voce io desiai d ’ Orfeo,

( Com uom che in cor di fera [lieta brami )
Mentre firigion di donna Amor mi feo ;

Oggi, bendi io sia fuor di quei legami.

Più che mai desiarla mi bisogna :

Cli esser, Donne, non Jiuò, eli io Jiur non ami .

Atrio, ma d’ uno amor, che non agogna
Cosa di reo ; nè in arde di desìo
Che [torti [lentimento, nè vergogna .

THE NURSE.

CANTO I.

Accomplish’d Dames, whose soft consenting minds
The rosy chain of willing Hymen binds !

If e’er one prouder wish my bosom felt
By magic strains the listening soul to melt,

(Mov’d by such strains the woodlands Orpheus drew,)
That wish inspires me whilst I sing to you.

— What tho’ the pleasing bonds no more I prove,

I own your charms, nor e’er shall cease to love ;

Not with such love as feeds a wanton flame,

— Attended close by penitence and shame !

But

LA BALIA .

D’ Orfeo vorrei, che fosse oro. il dir mio ,

Non Jierchè V alma ojijiressa si rileve ;

Ma Jier darvi a veder quel, eli io desìo.

Pur, se 7 vero ha la forza, eli aver deve
Negli animi gentili, come 7 vostro,

Darlo a creder a voi mi sarà lieve.

Ne Jier desìo d’ onor verso V inchiostro,

Ma Jier un zelo santo, e naturale,

Che mi muove a Jiietà dell error nostro ;

E so, che V emendar d’ un sì gran male,

O Donne, è in mano a voi, qualor vogliate ;
Se d’ adojirar virtu Jiunto vi cale.

Vero è, che questo error fu in ogni etate ;

Ma in nessuna già mai, quant ’ ora in questa ;
Onde maggior ne nasce la Jiietate.

Qual furia delV inferno cilV uom Jiiìt infesta
Addusse al mondo, e tanto crescer fece
Usanza così fiera, e disonesta ¥

Che Jiorti Donna nove mesi, o diece

In ventre il Jiarto ; e poiché a luce è tratto ,

Lo schifi, ed altra prendalo in sua vece.

Quando io penso a sì crudo, orribil atto ;

E che dai più miglior più s' abbia in uso,

Ne son Jier divenir rabbioso, o matto.

THE NURSE.

5

But Love, that seeks by nobler arts to please,

True to your honour, happiness and ease.

Light were my task, if every gentle breast
Own’d the just laws of native truth imprest;

For not by hopes of vain applause misled.

In reason’s injur’d cause alone I plead.

*Tis yours to judge ; nor I that judgment fear,

If truth be sacred and if virtue dear.

What fury, hostile to our common kind,

First led from nature’s path the female mind,

Th’ ingenuous sense by fashion’s laws represt,

And to a babe denied its mother’s breast ?

What ! could she, as her own existence dear.

Nine tedious months her tender burthen bear,

Yet when at length it smil’d upon the day,

To hireling hands its helpless frame convey ?

— Whilst yet conceal’d in life’s primaeval folds,

Tlf unconscious mass her proper body holds ; (a)

Whilst

LA BALIA .

Che mentr ella nel cor [io tenea chiuso
Un non so che, che non vedea s' egli era
Umor corrotto, o vento ivi rinchiuso ;

O mola informe, o come dicon fera,

Che talor sembri pipistrello, od angue ;

E toccando il terren , la donna pera ;

Ella il nudrisce del suo proprio sangue,

E'I guarda d ' ogni mal, d' ogni periglio ,

E grave il ventre tanti dì ne langue :

E poi c ha nelle braccia il caro figlio,

Ella neghi notrirlo del suo latte ;

E talor quasi mandilo in esiglio :

Che quando noi vedea, gli abbia ella fatte
Tante accoglienze ; ed or che l vede, e sente,
Lo spregi, e sdegni, e sì vilmente il tratte :

Che'l veda nella cuna uom già vivente,

E col bel pianto, e con la voce umana
Quasi gridar mercè V oda sovente :

E'I cibo usato suo, la sua fontana

Non pur gli neghi, ma dì casa il cacci ;

E' cosa troppo fiera, ed inumana.

Che al proprio figlio il petto altrui procacci,

E'I suo gli chiuda, e mandilo in disparte ;

Par, che' n pensarvi il sangue mi si agghiacci .

THE NURSE.

/

Whilst in her mind distracting fears arise,

Stranger to that which in her bosom lies ;

Whilst led by ignorance, wild fancy apes
Uncouth distortions and perverted shapes ;

Yet then securely rests the promis’d brood,

Screen'd by her cares and nurtur’d by her blood.

But when reliev’d from danger and alarms,

The perfect offspring leaps into her arms,

Turns to a mother's face its asking eyes,

And begs for pity by its tender cries ;

Then, whilst young life its opening powers expands,
And the meek infant spreads its searching hands,
Scents the pure milk-drops as they slow distill,

And thence anticipates the plenteous rill,

From her first grasp the smiling babe she flings.
Whilst pride and folly seal the gushing springs ;
Hopeful that pity can by her be shewn,

Who for another’s offspring quits her own.

Ah 1

8

LA BALIA .

Come [ter mezzo il cor non se le Jiarte,

Quando in man d ’ una , che 7 suo sangue venda ,
Pori madre il figlio, e di suo grembo il Jiarte ?

Forse credete, che natura ajijienda

Due Jioma al vostro Jietto , come al mento
Suol Jiorsi un neo, eli ivi qual gemma sjilenda ?

E che non le vi dia Jier nodrimento
De ’ Jiar goletti figli , e Jier aita ;

Ma Jier beltà del corjio, ed ornamento ?

Onde ciascuna ajijiena in salvo uscita,

Quel candido liquor scaccia, ed arretra ;

E non senza Jieriglio di sua vita :

Mentre di bianco umor vien marcia tetra,

E si sjiande nei membri, o giù sen cala ;

O dentro i vasi suoi gela, ed imjietra .

Sbandite il latte come cosa mala,

Che la vostra beltà denigri, o guaste ;

Onde Jiiù d ’ una V animo n esala.

Siate, Donne, quantunque e sante, e caste,

Tra voi non ne trovo una oggi sì forte,

Che incontro uso sì reo Jiugni, e contraste .

Lasso ! La mia carissima consorte

Sei mesi inferma io piansi sovra un anno ,

E sette volte quasi giunta a morte.

THE NURSE.

Ah ! sure ye deem that nature gave in vain
Those swelling orbs that life’s warm streams contain ;
As the soft simper, or the dimple sleek
Hangs on the lip, or wantons in the cheek ; (Z>)

Nor heed the duties that to these belong,

The dear nutrition of your helpless young.

— Why else, ere health’s returning lustre glows,
Check ye the milky fountain as it flows ?

Turn to a stagnant mass the circling flood,

And with disease contaminate the blood ? (c)

Whilst scarcely one, however chaste she prove,
Faithful remains to nature and to love.

Nor think your poet feigns ; alas too well
By dear experience I the truth can tell :

In dread suspense a year’s long circuit kept,

And seven sad months, 1 trembled and Ì wept,

Whilst a lov'd consort press’d the couch of woe,

And death oft aim’d the oft averted blow.

Nor

10

LA BALIA,

Ala del suo inai fu mia la colpa, e 7 danno ,
Che contro il suo voler deliberai ,

Che face ss1 ella quel, che V altre fanno.

Se argento, ed oro, e lagrime versai,

Cfi ogni gran vena savia spenta, e secca ;
Pensar sei può chi 7 prova, o 7 provò mai .

O quanto, Donne, gravemente pecca
Colei, che con liquori, od erba, o polve
Quelle fonti santissime dissecca !

Dissecca quelle fonti, o indietro volve ,

Che Dio diede alV età dell innocenza,
Alentre che nelle fasce ella s’ involve.

Per me non credo, eli abbia differenza

Dall un peccato alV altro, che gravi oncia
Ala sian quasi di pari penitenza,

Donna che pregna di sua man si sconcia,
Perchè 7 ventre già molle non arrughi,
Onde nuda talor ne Jiaja sconcia ;

Od altra, che del petto i rivi asciughi
Per serbar tonde, e sode le sue poppe ;

E quel dono di Dio dal mondo fughi.

Quella d ’ uom cominciato il filo roppe,

E qual ombra, che A seme in erba adugge,
U opra in man di natura ella interroppe :

THE NURSE.

] i

— Nor her’s the fault— misled by fashion’s song,

’Twas I depriv’d the mother of her young ;

Mine was the blame, and I too shar’d the smart,
Drain’d was my purse, and anguish wrung my heart.

O crime ! with herbs and drugs of essence high,
The sacred fountains of the breast to dry !

Pour back on nature’s self the balmy tide
Which Nature’s God for infancy supplied !

— Does horror shake us when the pregnant dame.

To spare her beauties, or to hide her shame,

Destroys, with impious rage and arts accurst,

Her growing offspring ere to life it burst,

And can we bear, on every slight pretence,

The kindred guilt that marks this dread offence ? Id)

— As the green herb fresh from its earliest root
Young life protrudes its yet uncertain shoot,

Or falls, unconscious of the blighting storm,

A dubious victim, and a shadowy form ;

But

12

LA BALIA.

Questa , il cui parto il sangue suo non sugge,
Offende uom già perfetto, uom giunto a luce ;
E V opra fatta, in quanto a se distrugge.

A tor quel vitto al figlio empia s induce,

Gli è suo, da che nel cor V anima gli entre ;

E eli egli, uscendo fuor, seco s adduce.

Forse quel sangue, già vermiglio mentre
Giu si giacea, non è quel me desino oggi
Dentro le poppe, eli era pria nel ventre ?

Il qual per dare alV uom, poi eli indi sloggi,
Senza schifo V usato suo sostegno,

Vuol Dio, che color muti, e su sen poggi.

Volete voi veder, se 7 suo disegno

Nel far del mondo fu, che trad mortali
Ogni madre allattasse il caro pegno?

Che a tante, e tante guise d' animali,

Fin a que tanti mostri d ’ Etiopia
Diede lor poppe, e non a tutti eguali.

Ne die ’ a voi due, non già per maggior copia ;
Ma che accadendo far proli gemelle,

Ciascun avesse la sua fonte propia.

A cagne, a capre, a scrofe, a tutte quelle ,

Che son vie piu feconde, ne die ’ molte ;

Che a par de figli avesser le mammelle .

THE NURSE.

13

But she who to her babe her breast denies,

The sentient mind, the living man destroys ;
Arrests kind nature’s liberal hand too soon.

And robs her helpless young of half the boon, (e)
— ’Tis his, not hers — the colour only chang’d,
Erewhile thro’ all the throbbing veins it rang’d ;
Pour’d thro’ each artery its redundant tide,

And with rich stream incipient life supplied ;

And when full time releas'd the imprison’d young,
Up to the breasts, a living river, sprung, (f)

Doubt ye the laws by Nature’s God ordain’d,
Or that the callous young should be sustain’d
Upon the parent breast ? — be those your schools
Where nature triumphs, and where instinct rules.
No beast so fierce from Zembla’s northern strand,
To Ethiopia’s barren realms of sand,

But midst her young her milky fountain shares,
With teats as numerous as the brood she rears.

Two

14

LA BALIA.

Può esser, care Donne, eli alle volte
Il core un verme non vi morda, e roda,
Quando a pensar di voi siete rivolte ?

Deh se bramate in terra e premio, e loda ,

Non siate, Donne, sì crudeli, ed empie,
Facendo al mondo, ai vostri, ed a Dio froda

Anzi ognuna di voi, [ir e go, contempi e
Con quant" arte natura in voi governe,
Quando del bel liquor le mamme v empie :

Che, poi che nelle parti vie più interne
Formò quel sangue, e fece di se stesso
Tutto il corpo delV uom, qual fuor si sceme

E che 7 tempo del parto ne vien presso,

Ei ne ’ luoghi di sopra se ne saglia ;

E 7 cibo usato appresti alV uscir d" esso ;

E qual buon Capitan di vettovaglia
Provveda alle sue genti d ’ ora in ora,

Che non ternari di fame, che le assaglia :

E per diverse vie tutti in un ora
Quasi di pari passo camminando,

Il parto, ed nutrimento vengan fora.

Or ' chi sarà colei, che contemplando
In ciò V affetto ardente di natura,

Da se non metta V amor proprio in bando ?

THE NURSE.

15

Two breasts ye boast for this kind end alone,

That your twin offspring each should have its own.

Does no remorse, ye fair, your bosoms gnaw.
Rebellious to affection’s primal law ?

Persist ye still, by her mild voice unaw’d,

False to yourselves, your offspring, and your God ?
Mark but your proper frame — what wond’rous art,
What fine arrangement rules in every part ;

As the blood rushes thro' each swelling vein,

The ruddy tide appropriate vessels strain ;

And whilst around the limpid current flows,

To shape and strength th’ unconscious embryon grows,
But when ’tis born, then nature’s secret force
Gives to the circling stream another course ;

The starting beverage meets the thirsty lip,

’Tis joy to yield it, and ’tis joy to sip.

So when th’ experienced chieftain leads along
To distant enterprize his warrior throng,

He,

10

LA BALIA.

E che non si disponga a soffrir dura
Ed aspra vita, per nodrir suo parto
Con ogni tenerezza, ed ogni cura P

Io non vo dir, ched popol Moro, ed Parto
Ilari le mogli di voi via piu amorose ;

Ed ogni gente esposta alV Austro, alV Arto :

Ma per farvi vermiglie ambe le rose
De ’ bei volti, dirovvi, Donne mie,

Che son le fiere piu di voi pietose.

Vi basta dunque il cor sendo sì pie,

D' usar coi figli vostri la fierezza,

Che non usan coi lor fiere piu rie P

Venga qual sia piu a carne umana avvezza,

E lupa, e tigre ir caria, e leoparda ;

Che ognuna i figli nutre, ed accar rezza.

Ne mai fiera è sì brava, e sì gagliarda,

Come al tempo, eli ella ha suoi figliuolini,

E che gelosa se gli allatta, e guarda.

E ’ lupa, eli avrà dieci lupicini,

E tutti in seno se gli tiene stretti,

Finché ciascun per se furi, e cammini.

Latte non han gli augelli ne ’ lor petti;

Ma i vostri, o Donne, ben dovriafar molli
Il veder loro, e i figli pargoletti,

THE NURSE.

i ;

He, as they move, with ever watchful cares
Their stores of needful nutriment prepares ;

Still prompt, e’er hunger ask, or thirst invade,
With due supplies and stationary aid.

And can ye then, whilst nature’s voice divine
Prescribes your duty, to yourselves confine
Your pleas’d attention ? Can ye hope to prove
More bliss from selfish joys than social love ?

Nor deign a mother’s best delights to share,

Tho’ purchas’d oft with watchfulness and care ?

— Pursue your course, nor deem it to your shame
That the swart African, or Parthian dame.

In her bare breast a softer heart infolds
Than your gay robe and cultur’d bosom holds ;
Yet hear, and blush, whilst I the truth disclose ;
Than you the ravening beast more pity knows.
Not the wild tenant of th' Hyrcanian wood,

Intent on slaughter, and athirst for blood,

E’er turns regardless from her offspring’s cries,

Or to their thirst the plenteous rill denies.

Gaunt

18

LA BALIA .

Come semjire li tengono satolli :

Io so, che avete nei poderi vostri ,

1 i

De ’ colombi , e dell anatre , e de ’ polli :

Vedete i figli lor cibar coi rostri ,

Coprir con Vale, e radunar col grido ;

E in quanti modi V amor lor si mostri.

Che fanno i cigni , da che son nel nido
I nudi figli, sin che veston piume,

Sì che possan volar di là dal lido ?

/ 1 / * ».

La madre sì li guarda, mentre il lume
Ella ha del dì ; la notte il padre a nuoto
Su Vale li diporta per lo fiume.

So, che per fama quell augel v è noto,

(Sebben nonfe mai per nostr aria il volo.j
Cìl apre il suo petto ai figli sì devoto.

Fiere, ed augei nutron di figli un stuolo ;

E voi, Donne gentil, Donne sovrane,

Vi disdegnate di nodrirne un solo ?

Non pur le proprie carni, ma le strane
Allevan bruti : è amicizia quella,

O sdegno, ed odio, cK è tra 7 gatto, e 7 cane ?

THE NURSE.

10

Gaunt is the wolf, the tyger fierce and strong,

Yet when the safety of their helpless young
Alarms their fears, the deathful war they wage
With strength unconquer’d, and resistless rage, (g)
One lovely babe your fostering care demands,

And can ye trust it to an hireling’s hands?

Whilst ten young wolvelings shelter find and rest
In the soft precincts of their mother’s breast ;

’Till forth they rush, with vigorous nurture bold,
Scourge of the plain, and terror of the fold.

Mark too the feather’d tenants of the air ;

What tho’ their breasts no milky fountain bear,
Yet well may yours a soft emotion prove
From their example of maternal love.

On rapid wing the anxious parent flies
To bring her helpless brood their due supplies.

See the young pigeon from the parent beak
With struggling eagerness its nurture take.

The hen, whene’er the long sought grain is found,
Galls, with assiduous voice, her young around,

Then

20

LA BALIA .

E visf ho in casa dC una mia sorella ,

Cagna morir, mentre i suoi figli allatta,

Che viver non [ iotean senza mammella ;

E nel suo loco entrar pietosa gatta,

E nodrirgli, e crear fino alV etade
Per se stessa a cibarsi, e viver atta .

Nutre bestia i nemici per pietade ;

E noi mandiamo i nostri figli altrove ?

0 vituperio delV umanitade !

Di Spagna, dal Perù, dalV Indie nuove
Recar vi fate or cagnin rosso, or bianco ,

E d ’ ogni estremo lido, in che si trove ;

E non vi si allontana mai dal fianco ;

Non pur gli aprite il seri, gli date il lembo ;
Ma in petto a fiato a fiato il chiudete anco.

E i figli vostri, che nè sol, nè nembo
Dovria scostar da voi, par che vi grave
Tener ne' tetti ; io non vo dir nel grembo ?

Senza che di sua mano asterga, e lave,

Nodrir può figlio gentil Donna accorta,
Onde poi maggior debito se ri ave.

THE NURSE.

21

Then to her breast the little stragglers brings,

And screens from clanger by her guardian wings.

Safe thro’ the day beneath a mother’s eye.

In their warm nest the unfledg’d cygnets lie ;

But when the sun withdraws his garish beam,

A father’s wing supports them down the stream.

— Yet still more wonderous (if the long told tale
Hide not some moral truth in fiction’s veil)

The Pelican her proper bosom tears,

And with her blood her numerous offspring rears,
Whilst you the balmy tide of life restrain,

And truth may plead, and fiction court in vain.

Yon favorite lap-dog that your steps attends,

Peru, or Spain, or either India sends, (h)

What fears ye feel, as slow ye take your way,

Lest from its path the minion chance to stray !

At home on cushions pillow’d deep he lies,

And silken slumbers veil his wakeful eyes ;

Or still more favoured, on your snowy breast

He drinks your fragrant breath, and sinks to rest ;

Whilst

22

LA BALIA.

Dì nulla figlio a Madre obbligo [torta ;

Come quando ella stessa sei notrica ;
Sebben giacque [ter lui più volte morta .

Il generarlo vien senza fatica.

* * *

* * *

Il girne grave è atto necessario,

La tema; il rischio, il partorir, la doglia ;
Solo il tenerlo a petto è volontario .

* . 4

Ma che Donna non possa, o che non voglia
Nutrir suo parto ; almen più destro modo
S' usasse in cercar femmina, che'l toglia.

Ove che sia, per quanto io veggo, ed odo,
Quel che più nelle Balie si domanda,

N.

E il latte fresco, e 7 petto colmo, e sodo :

E si prende ugualmente, e d ’ ogni banda,
Ove si trovi ; e spesso a prender viensi
Per un vii servitor, che a ciò si manda .

E s' ella è putta, o rea ; se ha scemi sensi,

O s' altro eli' ha di mal, quando si piglia,
Nessuno è che vi miri, o che vi pensi :

THE NURSE.

23

Whilst your young babe, that from its mother’s side
No threats should sever, and no force divide,

In hapless hour is banish’d far aloof

Not only from your breast — but from your root.

Think not that I would bid your softness share
Undue fatigue, and every grosser care.

Another’s toils may here supply your own,

But be the task of nurture yours alone ;

Nor from a stranger let your offspring prove
The fond endearments of a parent’s love.

So shall your child, in manhood’s riper day,

With warm affection all your cares repay.

But if the milk-stream on his lips you close
No other debt your injur’d offspring owes ;(i)

You gave him life, as powerful impulse taught,

The fated months roll’d onward, till they brought
The hour of dread, of danger, and of pain.

That hour you sought to deprecate in vain ;

Spontaneous then supply the milky spring ;

\

The only voluntary boon ye bring.

But

24

LA BALTA .

fS’ è bianca, o bruna, o liallida, o vermìglia ;

E ’ n complession ( che ben si mostra al visoj

V

E contraria alla madre, o le somiglia.

Ed è questo un accorto, util avviso

D’ importanza quant altro, cK io ne scorga,
Prima che d figlio sia da voi diviso.

Purché, qual pianta, il fanciullin ne sorga ;

Che importa, alcun dirà, chi sia la donna,

Che in grembo il cresca, e 7 petto suo gli porga ?

Sieno avi del fanciullo Orso, e Colonna ;

E sia la Balia sua di San Nastasò,

Purché 7 nodrisca, e sazii, ella è madonna.

Chi dirà ciò, nemmen dovria far caso,

Quand il corpo si generi, e si forme,

Di che sangue si faccia, ed in che vaso.

Qual ragion vuole, o cosa troppo enorme !

Che se del sangue vostro entro si pasce,

Poi fuori abbia alimento sì diffórme ?

E che la nobiltà, che seco nasce,

E 7 chiaro nome, e i bei principj onesti
Si corrompan col latte nelle fasce ;

THE NURSE.

25

But if the pleasing task ye still refuse,

Ah deaf alike to nature and the muse !

Or if the plenteous stream, to you denied,

Must from a richer fountain be supplied ;

Let prudence then th’ important choice direct,

Nor let your offspring mourn a new neglect.

— To seek a nurse ye trace the country round,

At length the mercenary aid is found : (k)

Some wretch of vulgar birth and conduct frail ;

O

Some known offender, flagrant from the jail ;

In mind an ideot, or depraved of life,

A shameless strumpet, or impoverished wife ;

Or be she brown, or black, or fresh, or fair,

Or to the mother no resemblance bear,

She brings, it seems, a full and flowing breast.
Enough — your care excuses all the rest.

Born of high blood, whose worth no stain defiles,
Say can ye choose a nurse from broad St. Giles ?
Heedless what venom taints the stream she gives,

So your stall’d offspring vegetates and lives. (/)

Why

LA BALIA .

E 7 fletto altrui quasi gli ammorbi , e imfiesti ?
Qual è 7 villan sì rozzo , e si ignorante ,

C/^e m nobil tronco unqua vii ramo innesti ?

Patirem dunque noi , che il nostro infante
Di sangue gentilissimo formato
Dentro viscere illustri , e caste , e sante ;

Debba ricever spirto, introdur fiato
n un corfio vii, di un animo cattivo,

NelV animo, e nel corpo suo ben nato ?

Meglio saria farlo di vita privo,

Che in tal guisa il nodrir : poiché si stima
Peggio assai del morir V esser mal vivo .

Tanto imprime in un vaso quel, che prima
Vi si pon, che 7 suo odore indi levarsi
Non può mai piu con acqua, nè con lima.

In questo Ispagna ancor dovrìa lodarsi,

Ove ogni nobil Donna a mercè tiene,

De figli Luna Illustre, Balia farsi.

Anzi in Galizia han ciò cotanto a bene,

Che senza alcun rossor Donna gentile
Nati d' altra a sè pari a notrir viene.

THE NURSE.

2?

Why midst the fellow tenants of the earth
This high respect to ancestry and birth ?

Avails it ought from whom the embryon sprung,
What noble blood sustain’d th’ imprison’d young,

If, when the day beam first salutes his eyes,

His earliest wants a stranger breast supplies ? (m)
From different veins a different nurture brings,
Pollutes with streams impure the vital springs ?

’Till every principle of nobler birth,

Unblemish’d honour, and ingenuous worth,

Absorb’d and lost, he falsifies his kind,

A groveling being with a groveling mind.(zz)

Th’ uncultur’d clown who grafts the generous stem
Ne’er from a worthless branch selects the gem ;

Yet you, with rank and vulgar blood, debase
The genuine honours of a noble race ;

Thro’ the young veins the sordid humours pass,

And change by slow degrees the ductile mass.

—Far happier if by early fate opprest,

Your blameless infant seek the realms of rest.

Than

28

LA BALIA .

La nobiltà, V altezza signorile,

Che tanto da suoi ceppi oggi traligna,
Perchè credete, che sia bassa, e vile ?

Di che talor la plebe empia, e maligna
A voi suol recar colpa, e dice, e crede,

Che al terrea vostro indegna pianta alligna .

Questo degenerar, che ognor si vede,

Sendo voi caste, Donne mie, vi dico
Che d ’ altro, che dal latte non [ irocede .

U altrui latte oscurar fa 7 fregio antico
Degli Avi illustri, e adulterar le razze ;

E s’ infetta talor sangue pudico.

Vediam di sagge Madri figlie pazze,

E d ’ onorati Padri infami figli
Tutto dì per le case, e per le piazze .

Dal latte ogni animai convien che pigli
Gran qualità, che inchina, se non sforza,
Che l fanciullo alla Balia alfin somigli.

Non pur in quanto al corpo, ed alla scorza 9
Ma su l animo stesso, e su i costumi
Il latte, a par del seme, ha quasi forza.

THE NURSE.

29

Than prey to pain, dishonour, and disease,

«

Drag on existence thro' a length of days.

Of kinder heart the matron dames of Spain
The nurse's mercenary trade disdain ;

Proud to supply, in high born worth secure,

The mother’s office with a stream as pure.(o)

Sprung from a line of heroes, that of old
Tho’ rude were liberal, and tho’ gentle bold,

Whose frowns a tyrant’s wasteful rage could awe,
Guardians of freedom, bulwarks of the law,

What secret taint, what dread contagion runs
Thro’ Britain’s noble but degenerate sons ?

— Not on your chastity, ye fair, shall rest

The charge, whate’er th’ invidious vulgar jest,

’Tis from his nurse your offspring draws disgrace,

And thence adulterates his generous race.

’Till the kind father sees with wondering eyes

A motley offspring round his table rise ;

Unlike the parent stock from whence they sprung

And various as the breasts on which they hung.(y>)

Late,

30

LA BALIA .

Così quel vero Sol gli occhi vi allumi
A seguir V orme mie, qual io mi sono ;

E vi foglia dinanzi V ombre, e i fumi.

Fumi di fasto, ed ombre d ' onor sono,

Ed amor proprio quei, che v han tenuto
Tanti anni, e tengon fuor del cammin buono.

Basti, Donne, il mal fatto, e'I ben perduto ;

E perdonate, prego, s' io vi pungo
Con un ago troppo aspro, e troppo acuto.

Ho detto assai, nè pur al mezzo giungo :

Ma acciochè, Donne mie, non vi dia angoscia
Più io, che non le Balie, col dir lungo ;
Riposiamoci un poco, e torniam poscia.

/

FINE DEL PRIMO CAPITOLO.

THE NURSE.

Late, but not lost, O sun of truth appear,
From error’s gloom the female mind to clear !
Shades of false honour, darker mists of pride,
Touch’d by the beam ethereal quick subside.
Self-love his long prescriptive rule foregoes,

And every feature with the mother glows.
Enough, ye fair, the dread neglect has cost,
The ills experienced, and the pleasures lost ;
Yet ah forgive the bard, whose venturous strain
Has dared to give your gentle breasts a pain,
And let him rest awhile, ere yet the song
Vie with the drawlings of the nurse’s tongue.

END OF THE FIRST CANTO.

LA BALIA .

CAPITOLO SECONDO .

SE avrò nel mio Jiarlar tanta virtute,

Che alcuna di voi, Donne, si converta ;

E ’ Ifero stil da oggi innanzi mute :

Il terrò più, che se mi fosse aperta,

E spianata la strada di quel monte,

CK io trovai sempre così chiusa, ed erta :

E più che se cingesse la mia fronte

Quel ramo in guiderdon delle mie rime,

Che suole ornar chi bee nel sacro fonte,

Cerchi altri nel cantar le lodi prime,

CK io, pur che dal mio dir tal ben proceda
Gloria non è, che più gradisca, e stime.

THE NURSE.

4

CANTO II.

If the rude verse that now detains your ear
Should to one female heart conviction bear ;

Recall one gentler mind from fashion’s crew,

To give to nature what is nature’s due,

— To me, the triumph were of more account,

Than if conducted up th’ Aonian mount,

(Long trac’d with anxious steps, but trac’d in vain)
The muse had rank’d me with her favorite train,

Or for my brows had deign’d the wreath to bring,
Worn but by those that haunt her sacred spring,

— Whilst others mount the arduous heights of fame,
To wake your feelings be my nobler aim :

Nor

34

LA BALIA .

Ma quando tanto onor non si conceda
Alla mia bassa Musa , assai mi basta,

Che del mio buon voler segno si veda.

E se altrui colila al mio desir contrasta,
Tempo verrà, che Jìa tra Donne in pregio
Non meno V esser pia, che'l viver casta .

Nè sangue illustre avrà, nè titol regio,

Che d ' obbligo si santo vada escluso,

E voglia sopra V altre privilegio.

Così la Parca tanto stame al fuso,

Donne, de ' vostri dì fili, ed attorca,

Che siate vive a tempo del buon uso.

Se mentre in culla un fanciullin si corca,
Tanto si attende, o se si facia o scopre,

Che gamba, o mano, o piè non se gli torca :

E se da poi che fascia piu non copre,

Si batte su le man, qualor le leve,

Perchè la destra, e non la manca adopre :

Se tanta cura s' ha quand ' uom s' alleve,

In evitar del corpicciuol gli stroppi ;

Quanto ingegnai ’ la Madre, e piu si deve,

THE NURSE.

35

Nor yet unblest, if whilst I fail to move,

The fond attempt my kind intention prove.

Ah yet, ye fair, shall come that happier day
When love maternal shall assert her sway,

And crowning every joy of married life,

Join the fond mother to the faithful wife ;
When every female heart her rule shall own,
From the straw cottage to the splendid throne ;
Nor e’er for ought that fortune can bestow,

A mother’s sacred privilege forego.

And may the fates, ye fair, your years prolong,
To see accomplish’d all your poet’s song.

If, whilst in cradled rest your infant sleeps,
Your watchful eye unceasing vigils keeps
Lest cramping bonds his pliant limbs constrain,
And cause defects that manhood may retain ; (q)
If, when his little hands, from bondage free,
Restless expand in new born liberty,

You teach the child, by reprehension slight,

In preference to the left to use the right ;

It thus the body claim your constant care,
Shall not the mind your equal caution share

Lest

3Ó

LA BALIA .

Che V alma tenerella non si strofi [li

£)’ un vizio, o d altro neo , che seco fiorti
Il seno dì colei, che sugga, e fiofifii ?

Vi fiarrà delle cose a creder forti

Quel, eli io vi dissi, o Donne, ed è [ lur certo ,
Che 7 latte a fiar del seme quasi imfiorti :

Ed potrete provar chiaro, ed aperto,

Se i vostri contemplate, e gli altrui frutti ;
Come V intende ogni uom saggio, ed esperto .

Vedrete cinque, o sei fratelli, e tutti
Di costumi, e di vita assai diversi,

Come se da più madri sian produtti.

Non fan pianeti prosperi, od avversi,

Ma il latte, V alimento lor primiero,

Che può far buoni gli animi, e perversi .

Or se 7 desìo d ’ un nespolo, o d' un pero,

O d'altro, che abbia Donna allor eli è pregna,
E troppo si sprofondi in quel pensiero ;

Può tanto, che in quel membro il frutto segna
Dal fanciulli n, che a se medesma tocca
La Madre al tempo, che 7 desìo più regna :

THE NURSE.

3/

Lest early stains, from nutriment impure,

Print deep those blots no future arts can cure ?

Perchance the truth your credence scarce will move,
Tho’ long experience will the maxim prove,

That what your growing child imbibes when young,
Imports not less than from whose loins he sprung.

— How oft a numerous progeny we find,

Various in worth, in manners and in mind ;

Whoe’er the father, we can scarce suppose
From the same mother such an offspring rose.

Yet on the strange event no mystery waits,

Of prosperous planets or of adverse fates,

The plastic streams these qualities instill,

And form the character for good or ill.

If, ere that hour arrive whose awful strife
Gives your new offspring to external life,

Some favorite object, fruit, or flower, inspire
Resistless yearnings of intense desire,

’Tis said that nature’s wond’rous power is such,

That on whatever part the mother’s touch
Is first impressed, the self same part retains
On the young babe the imitative stains ; (r)

And

LA BALIA .

Quanto più de poter quel , che per bocca

Sua propria gli entra , e 7 nutre un anno , o due,
Latte di rea, di perfida, di sciocca?

E se in uom ferino, e su Le forze sue
La qualità de ' cibi molto [rote ;

Che [mo in un, che V altr jer prodotto fue ?

Usi uom solingo, e / lallido le gote

Quel pomo insano, c ha 7 color qual negro
Vedrete se 7 cervello sì gli srote ;

Ed al contrario, ancorché grave, ed ergo,

Dategli ed oro, e gemme trite a bere ;

Che avrà la mente queta, e 7 volto allegro .

Non pur si può negli uomini vedere

Quel, che possa ne' parti un indegn esca,

Ma nelle bestie stesse, e nelle fiere.

Provi pastor, come di sen loro esca
Che la capra e la : pecora col petto
L ' una i figli dell' altra allevi, e cresca ;

E vedrà riuscir contrario effetto

Al naturale ; perchè il pelo all' agna
Verrà fuor duro, e morbido al capretto.

THE NURSE.

39

And doubt ye, that your infant’s earliest food,

Mix’d with his frame, and circling with his blood,

If long imbib’d from some corrupted spring,

Can fail at length its dread effects to bring ?

— Even the ripe man, to perfect vigour grown,
Prospers or pines from aliment alone ;

Once if he taste the lurid fruit insane,

How throbs his heart, and whirls his madding brain !
Or when with sickness bow’d, with care opprest,

The healing potion sooths his ills to rest.

What then th’ effect of food — ye parents say.

On the young babe, the birth of yesterday ?(.f)

Nor yet alone among the human race
The strong effects of aliment we trace.

— Go, bid the hind employ’d your flocks to keep,
Change but the younglings of the goat and sheep.
The novel food each alter’d fleece will shew,

Soft will the kid’s, and harsh the lambkin’s grow.
Would you the beagle should his scent retain,

No stranger teat your genuine brood must drain ;
Even wolves rapacious half their rage resign,

Fed with the milk-stream from the race canine.

Nor

40

LA BALIA .

E i cagnuoli o sian nostri, o di Brettagna,
Perchè 7 valor de ' padri in lor si servi,
Non den latte assaggiar di strana cagna .

E i lupi esser men ladri, e men protervi
Col canin latte, ed alterar di pelo
Vedrà, se a prova un Cacciator V osservi.

Cangia negli arbor frutti, e fronde, e stelo
Il trarsi in altra terra la lor sete,

Svelti da quella, ove pria vider cielo.

Arbor felice verdeggiar vedrete

Nel seno d ' una valle opaca, e molle,

E far V aria odorata, e V ombre liete ;

E trapiantata in qualche poggio, o colle,

Il nudrimento dalla nuova terra
Ogni vaghezza, ogni splendor le tolle .

Oltre che in altrui danno da voi s' erra,
Mentre altre son de' vostri parti altrici ;
Voi stesse a voi vi procacciate guerra.

Non dite : o tempi tristi, ed infelici !
Quando siete dai figli voi neglette ;

0 essi son de' padri poco amici :

THE NURSE.

•il

Nor to the various vegetable tribe
Imports it less what juices they imbibe ;

The vigorous plant in some milcl spot that blooms,
Spreads its green shade, and breathes its rich perfumes,
But if to some ungenial soil convey’d,

Soon mourns its fragrance lost, its strength decay’d.^)

Nor feels alone your hapless babe his wrongs ;

To you severer penitence belongs —

Shall modern times your censures keen engage
— A race degenerate, an ungrateful age !

That children scorn a mother’s smile, and fly
The kind upbraidings of a father’s eye ?

— On you, who caus’d the guilt, recoils the blame;

For thus from heaven th’ eternal mandate came,

That manhood should with retribution due,

Avenge the wrongs that helpless childhood knew.

’Twas nature’s purpose, that the human race
Should, with the circling lapse of years, increase ;

And well her kind providing cares foresaw
Your dread infringement of her primal law ;

Hence

42

LA BALIA .

Perchè 7 Bettor del del vuole , e permette.

Che se or ve li togliete voi dinanzi,

Poi grandi essi ne faccian le vendette,

Ben previde Natura molto innanzi

Questo error vostro ; e perchè non s annulli
Il mondo, eli ella vuol di ognor s' avanzi,

Fé' così ghiotti, e amabili i fanciulli ;

Life ' pili dolci in quelle età piu acerbe,

E gli adornò di tanti bei trastulli ;

\ ' 1

Chè spregiati da voi, Madri superbe,

Sia chi gli abbracci, e intanto che gli alleva,
Con diletto gli affanni disacerbe .

Tener la Balia dunque non v' aggreva,

Donne, incarco che Atlante stancherebbe ;

E 7 Bambin sì, che ognor gran noja leva ?

Quando per quello amor, che ai figli debbe,
Schifar Donna le Balie non volesse,

Fuggirle per suo comodo dovrebbe .

Benché ponga in non cale ogni interesse,

Chi è, che soffrir possa un anno, o dui
I cordogli, e le noje, che danno esse?

THE NURSE.

43

Hence to the babe she gave endearing wiles,
Resistless blandishments, and artless smiles,

That from your arms, unfeeling mothers, thrown,
Some softer breast the tender pledge might own ;
Fulfil tifi important task by you betray’d,

And find the generous labour well repaid.

O past all human tolerance the curse,

The endless torments of a hireling nurse !

If to your children no regard were due,

For your own peace avoid the harpy crew ;

A race rapacious, who with ceaseless strife
Disturb the stream of calm domestic life.

— But wiser you with no such ills contend ;

Far from your sight your helpless young you send,
And to your child, yourselves, your God, unjust,
To others yield tifi inalienable trust !

That piercing shriek, from anguish keen that flows,
Disturbs no distant mother’s bland repose ;

Those looks, that speak the inmost soul, impart
No kindred feelings to a mother’s heart ;

Not her’s the prompt and interposing arm
When dangers threaten, or when fears alarm ;

Alike

LA BALIA.

Se date il vostro figlio in casa altrui,

Mostrate un disamor tutto in un temilo
E con Dio , e con gli uomini, e con lui.

Nè vedete, s' egli ha suo dritto a temjio ;

E del bene, e del mal sajiete rado ;

Ed egli è mal trattato il / liu del temilo ;

E se non è, mel credo, e persuado/,

E come amar la Balia il potrà molto,

Se vede che alla Madre è poco a grado ?

E 7 fanciullo ad amar tuttofa volto

Colei, che bàci, e póppe, e madre chiame :
Tanto gli è 7 costilo, come ogni altro volto.

Rompete quel dolcissimo legame,

Che la Madre col figlio d' amor lega ;

Onde più lui, che gli occhi, e se stessa ame.

E se pur noi rompete, chi mi nega,

Che 7 nodo non s' allenti, e che men prema ,
Mentre altra al vostro ojficio si delega ?

Quel pensier, quel fervor , quell ansia estrema,
Che intorno ai figli , o Madri, v arde, e punge
Se son lontani, intepidisce, e scema.

THE NURSE.

45

Alike to her whate’er her child sustains,

Its smiles, or tears, its pleasures, or its pains.

But happier fortunes on your babe attend ;

His helpl ess infancy has found a friend.

Leaps his young heart with undissembled bliss
At the fond look, soft smile, or gentle kiss ;

Whilst by his lips the milky orbs are prest,

The soft affections spring within his breast ;

’Till the pleas’d hireling owns the tender claim,

And to a mother’s office joins the name, (u)

But ah, for ever lost the ties that bind
In links of filial love the infant mind ;

All that maternal sympathies impart.

Mix’d with each sense, and twin’d around the heart ;
The hope that every bliss to rapture swells ;

The care that every threatening ill repels ;

The smile that mingles with affection’s tear,

And speaks the favour’d object doubly dear.

Each soft emotion frigid absence chills,

And love’s young transports cold indifference kills,

— Absence, like death, the object long remov’d
Leaves but the memory of what once was lov’d ;

Nor

46

LA BALIA .

Chi non sa, che ogni oggetto, che sia lunge
Di vista altrui, se 7 tempo non è corto,

Dal cor, come dagli occhi, si disgiunge ?

Poco è maggior l ’ obblio d ’ un figlio morto
Di quel d' un vivo, e messo in un villagio
A l irò de ’ contadini, ed a diporto .

Vien rozzo, e poco generoso, e saggio :

Quel è 7 villan, che 7 tiene, e la casuccia,
Tal sarà 7 petto suo, tale il coraggio .

Vi vien la Balia a casa ogni f estuccia

Coi figli, ed altri ; e se non han lor mensa ,
E carrezze, e lusinghe, ella si cruccia ;

il

E se riede a man vota, tiensi ojfiensa ;

Nè vi vien mai, nè figlio mai vi mostra,

Che di borsa non scemi, e di dispensa .

Se tenete la Balia in casa vostra,

Piu si paté in quei mesi, che in cento anni ;
Se tanto può durar la vita nostra,

Oh s' io volessi raccontarvi i danni,

Che ne apporta il tener d ’ una Nutrice,

E i dispetti, e gl' incomodi, e gli ajfanni ,

THE NURSE.

47

Nor more severe the hapless infant’s lot
Who dies untimely, than who lives forgot, (w)

f r : \ A

In idle hours, or when some festal day
Wakes to rude mirth the giddy and the gay,

She brings your infant child — nor yours alone
But all she feeds, another’s or her own. —

With smiles and kindness you the flock receive,
Nor whatsoe’er she ask, refuse to give,

I >

Lest whilst she swells with jealousy or rage
Your infant’s sufferings should her wrath assuage ;
If in your house you keep the living pest,

Farewell to comfort, and farewell to rest,

For ah, what tongue can tell the care that springs.
The keen vexation such an inmate brings ?

— Yet might I hope, ye fair, nor hope in vain,

My hands could free you from your galling chain,
Could lead to that domestic heaven, which knows
Approving bliss, and well deserv’d repose,

Prompt were my aid. Nor less the secret ire
That in my bosom heaves with smother’d fire
Calls for th’ impassion’d verse. O may the strain
Promote your peace, whilst it relieves my pain !

Who

48

LA BALIA .

Sarebbe , Donne mie , come 5/ d/ce,

Un golfo entrar, che non ha fondo, o riva ;

E vi vorrebbe ingegno piu felice.

Ed oltre eli io ve ne ragioni, o scriva
Per tor di collo a voi cotesto giogo,

Che di villoso, e di piacer vi priva ;

Follo anche volentier, perchè mi sfogo,

Mentre ne parlo altrui, l ira, e la rabbia ,
Che arder mi fan piu che fornace, o rogo .

JJ esser ingrata è 7 minor mal, eli ella abbia,
Questa schiera, che 7 mondo oggi conturba :
Ciò che lorfassi, è un gittar seme in sabbia .

Piu disagia, e danneggia, e lógra turba
Ne tetti altrui V albergo d ’ una Balia,

Che non fan di soldati una gran turba :

Soldati non di Spagna, ma d ’ Italia,

E che siati di quei Bruzii, o del paese,

Che prima salutò la nave Idalia.

Io ho tanto imparato alle mie spese,

Che predicar potrei cento quaresme
Dell esser lor sì strano, e sì scortese ;

THE NURSE.

4Q

Who can the vices of the tribe detect ?
Shameless ingratitude their least defect.

Dispense your bounty with a liberal hand,

’Tis thrown in air, or sown upon the sand.

To greater insults must you daily stoop
Than from tlT invasion of a hostile troop.

— Not a gay troop of British volunteers,

Who charm your eyes while they dispel your fears ;
But such as found in Buonaparte’s train
Pour their fierce myriads o’er Italia’s plain.

But O to paint the torment and the curse
If once your doors admit an hireling nurse,

Were endless waste of paper and of time,

Abuse of patience, and abuse of rhime ;

Nor need I here the irksome story tell ;

From your own sufferings known I fear too well.

Tread as you will, your cautious feet will slide ;
No art can save you, and no prudence guide.
Pleas’d with your child, a fond caress bestow,

— Her pride no equal recompense can know.

Frown — and her breast its milky spring repels,

Or drops with venom as with rage she swells,

Sooth’d

50

LA BALIA.

E empirne, non che i fogli , ma le resme :

Ma fi er che il più di voi credo, che n aggia,
Vel potrete pensar per voi medesme .

Non è persona così destra, e saggia,

Che con la Balia sua, tra fosco e chiaro,
Schermir si sappia, che talor non caggia.

%

Se mostrate, il fanciullo esservi caro,

E gradir lei, V orgoglio più s' infiamma ;

E V ingordiggia sua non ha ripor a.

Se fingete il contrario, la sua mamma
Trova il bambin asciutta, o d ’ ira calda :
Veneri, non latte è quel, che sugge, e mamma.

Qual è troppo sfacciata, qual ribalda ;

( Cosa che importa ad onorate case J
Qual ritrosa, qual ruvida, qual balda.

Bisogna eli uom più spie, guati, ed annase
In sceglier Balia, e Santi e Dio c invochi,

Che in tor Donna non fa, con cui s accase.

Che guardi, ond ’ ella viene, e di quai lochi ;

E ben si può tener avventuroso

Chi Balia incontri che abbia de suoi pochi .

THE NURSE.

51

Sooth’d by no kindness, by no threats subdued,
Perverse, lascivious, insolent, and rude ;

Ah wretched he whom adverse fates ordain
To choose an inmate from so dire a train,

While scarcely less depends his peace ot life
Upon his children’s nurse than on his wife.

This can ye bear ? another curse awaits ;

Her tribe of followers then besiege your gates.

Brothers, of doubtful kin, and friends by dozens,

With female troops of sisters, aunts, and cousins ;
Without reproof you hear their loud carouse,

Whilst frighted order abdicates your house.

— Perchance some husband comes to claim his due,
Some sturdy lover lurks amidst the crew,

Then vain your vigilance, in caution’s spite,

(Watch’d thro’ the day) she cheats your care by night.
Pregnant — her breasts refuse the due supply,

Their source perverted, and their fountains dry.

t

Sick, pale, and languid, when your infant’s moans
Speak its soft sufferings in pathetic tones,

When

LA BALIA.

Albergar tutto il giorno or frate, or s fioso,

Or altrui, che Jier frate ella v' additi,

Non è noja, che turba ogni rijioso ?

L' intrattenerli, e 7 far lor de ' conviti,

E V altro saria fioco ; ma bisogna,

Che noi guardiani le mogli dai mariti :

Non già che in casa altrui facciati vergogna,
Ma eli ella non s' imfiregni, onde corrotte
Sian le due fonti, o arida la sfiogna.

E fierchè tutte son voraci, e ghiotte,

Star vi convien con gli occhi afierti semfire ;
Che se nò 7 dì v' inganneran la notte.

Non fiar, che 7 sangue, o Donne, vi si sternfire,
Quando il vostro fanciullo infermo fiiange,

E la Balia bisogna che si temfire ?

Chi temfirerà villana sì, che mange

Quel, che a lui giovi, e schifi quel, che noccia
E fier due giorni cibo, e vita cange ?

Chi imfietrerà da lei, che una sol goccia
Ber voglia d ' un liquore, o d ' un scirofio ?

E s' una volta il bee, cento il rimfiroccia.

THE NURSE.

S3

When nature asks a purer lymph, subdued
By needful physic, and by temperate food,

Say will the nurse her wonted banquet spare,

And for your infant stoop to humbler fare ?

Or with her pamper’d appetite at strife
One potion swallow to preserve its life ?

— Self her sole object — interest all her trade,

And more perverse the more you want her aid ;

Sinks the poor babe without a hand to save,

And from the cradle steps into the grave.

What numbers thus whom length of years had blest,
Untimely fall, by early fate opprest !

Life’s cheerful day ere yet enjoy’d, resign’d,

— The dread abuse depopulates mankind.

Nor happier he who doom’d his years to fill,

Drinks with his milk the seeds of future ill;

Born but to weep, and destin'd to sustain
A youth of wretchedness, an age of pain ;

Halt, deaf, or blind, to drag his weight of woe,

’Till death in kindness lays the sufferer low.

Once

54

LA BALIA.

Quando di lor bontà s' lia maggior uojio,

Allor son [ liti malo age, e sconoscenti ;

E V ut il solo han per bersaglio, e scopo.

Quanti vedete nelle fasce spenti

Fanciulli, che sarian forse invecchiati,

Se non bevean quei latti sì nocenti.

Chi potrà tutte dir le infirmitati,

Che 7 latte improprio nei fanciulli arreca,

Onde poi grandi, e vecchi son vessati?

- *' ' » , * - o

Un assorda, un animata, un altro accieca,

Un altro se ne va sempre carpone,

Finche la Parca il filo rompe, e seca.

Quanti sono i perigli, ove uom si pone ;

E quel, che è peggio, ov egli spesso incorre,
Quando non si conoscan le persone !

Quanti credendo di venire a torre

Quel ben, che i figli nutre, e sostien vivi,

Danno in quel mal, che Francia, e'I mondo corre !

E' l povero innocente, pria che arrivi

/

All ' età del peccar, quei morbi prova,

Che Dio dà per flagello dei lascivi.

THE NURSE.

55

Once exil’d from your breast, and doom’d to bring
His daily nurture from a stranger spring,

Ah who can tell the dangers that await
Your infant ? thus abandon’d to his fate.

i . _ *

Say, is there one with human feeling fraught
Can bear to think, nor sicken at the thought,

That whilst her babe, with unpolluted lips,

As nature asks, the vital fountain sips;

Whilst yet its pure and sainted shrine within
Rests the young mind, unconscious of a sin,

He with his daily nutriment should drain
That dread disease which fires the wanton’s vein ;

Sent as the fiercest messenger of God,

O'er lawless love to wave his scorpion rod ? (v)

Strange is the tale, but not more strange than true,
And many a parent may the treachery rue,

Who for their child, neglected and unknown,

Receive a changeling, vainly deem’d their own.

For witness, Ariosto’s scenes peruse ; (jy)

Who shall a poet’s evidence refuse ?

But say what end the impious fraud secures ?

— Another’s child thus takes the place of yours.

Meanwhile

56

LA BALIA .

Cosa dirò , che parrà strana , e nuova ;

E siate certe , o Donne, che ad alcune
Madri avvenuto esser talor si trova ;

Che i figli vi si cangian nelle cune :

(Vi parrà la Commedia d' Ariosto. )

Perchè ? direte : [ier cangiar fortune.

Che tal, che dalla madre esser esposto
Doveva alla pietà di chi 7 pigliasse,

Divien Signor nelV altrui loco posto.

Ed ella, che 7 cangiò, tacita stasse,

E tra sé gode il ben, che al figlio ha dato ;

E a tempo, se le par, conoscer fasse.

E colui quando 7 sappia, s' egli è grato,

Fargli aver alla Madre obbligo doppio ;

Pria che ’ l fece uomo, e poi che 7 pose in stato.

Sempre vi trema il cor di qualche stroppio,
Mentre le Balie in braccio i fanciulli hanno ;

E vi par d ’ ora in ora udir lo scoppio.

Si fan peggior le Balie d' anno in anno ;

Nuove leggi ogni dì sono introdutte,

E tutte in ut il loro, e in altrui danno.

57

THE NURSE.

Meanwhile, secure the crafty dame can wait
Her ripening project, and enjoy the cheat ;

Reap for her son the fruit of all your toils,

And bid him riot in your children’s spoils.

Then, hopeful of reward, no more she hides
Her guilt, but to his secret ear confides ;

Delighted thus a double boon to give,

First life itself, and next the means to live.

What ceaseless dread a mother’s breast alarms
Whilst her lov’d offspring fills another’s arms !
Fearful of ill she starts at every noise,

And hears, or thinks she hears, her children’s cries.
Whilst more imperious grown from day to day,

The greedy nurse demands increase of pay.

Vex’d to the heart with anger and expense,

You hear, nor murmur at her proud pretence ;
Compell’d to bear the wrong with semblance mild,
And sooth the hireling as she sooths your child.

— But not the dainties of Lucullus’ feast
Can gratify the nurse’s pamper’d taste ;

Nor,

58

LA BALIA .

Votino i gran soldi , x?o/x le vesti tutte r
Dei figli vostri ; e s' una lor si vieta,
Attendete veder le poppe asciutte .

Bisogna di uom le tratti da Poeta,

Sebben vena ei non ha ; che tutte vonno
Quella canzon per lor, non [ter noi lieta .

Per estirpar da noi quantunque [tonno,
Cercan di quelle voci anco esser paghe,
Che su la cuna cantano : vieti, sonno.

Sempre dei nostri danni elle son vaghe :

Se le deste le cene di Lucullo,

Non sperate, che Balia se ne appaghe .

Sia pur vezzoso, e vago il bel fanciullo,

Che piti vi dà la Balia angosce, e duoli,
CK ei non vi potrà dar gioja, e trastullo.

Rara è la Balia, che non furi, o involi :

Vi è forza sempre star sopra di voi,

Nè mai for zier lasciar aperti, e soli.

Non pur i tempi d ' oggi insegnan noi,

Ma degli antichi tnolti esempli avemo,
Che ogni Madre s' allatti i figli suoi.

Finger balia di Romolo, e di Remo
La lupa, o Donne, che pensate sia,

Se interpretar la favola vorremo ?

THE NURSE.

59

Nor, tho’ your babe in infant beauty bright,

Spring to its mother’s arms with fond delight,

Can all its gentle blandishments suffice
To compensate the torments that arise
From her to whom its early years you trust,

— Intent on spoil, ungrateful, and unjust.

Were modern truths inadequate to shew
That to your young a sacred debt you owe,

Not hard the task to lengthen out my rhimes
With sage examples drawn from ancient times, (z)
Of Rome’s twin founders oft the bard has sung,

For whom the haggard wolf forsook her young :

True emblem she of all th’ unnatural crew ,

Who to another give their offspring’s duc.h/<v)

But say, when at a saviour’s promis’d birth
With secret gladness throb’d the conscious earth,
Whose fostering care his infant wants represt,

Who lav’d his limbs, and hush’d his cares to rest ?
— She, at whose look the proudest queen might hide
Her gilded state, and mourn her humbled pride.

She

6o

LA BALIA .

Un mostrar, che ciascun altra che dia,

Fuorché la Madre, latte al fanciullino,

E' lupa ingorda, e fera ladra, e ria .

E s' egli è Istoria, fu voler Divino,

Che nel fondar di Roma mostrar volse
Le grandezza de' fati, e del destino .

Chi nudrì, chi lavò, chi in fasce accolse
Il Re del del, la Maestà divina,

Quandi Uom qui nacque, e carne umana tolse ?

Se non la Madre sua, V alta Reina,

Quella che fu nel mondo, ed è sol una,

A cui la terra assorge, e 'l del inchina.

Ella sei tenne in grembo, ed Ella in cuna ;

Ella a città / lortollo , ed Ella a tempio ;

Nè parte mai v' ebbe altra donna alcuna .

Or non dovrìa bastar quest' uno esempio,

Se avete del devoto, e del fedele,

A ritrarvi d' error sì crudo, ed empio.

Oh quante son le colpe, e le querele,
f Panni quasi d' udirne le parole )

Che vi si dan d' un atto si crudele !

Natura innanzi a voi di voi si dole,

Da poi che, mercè vostra, in van si affanna
Per darvi da nutrir la cara prole.

THE NURSE.

fit

She all her bosom’s sacred stores unlock’d,

His footsteps tended, and his cradle rock’d ;

Or, whilst the altar blaz’d with rites divine,

Assiduous led him to the sacred shrine :

And sure th’ example will your conduct guide,

If true devotion in your hearts preside.

But whence these sad laments, these mournful sighs,
That all around in solemn breathings rise ?

Th’ accusing strains in sounds distinct and clear
Wake to the sense of guilt your startled ear.

Hark, in dread accents nature’s self complain,

Her precepts slighted, and her bounties vain \(bb)

See sacred pity, bending from her skies,

Turns from th’ ungenerous deed her dewy eyes.
Maternal fondness gives her tears to flow
In all the deeper energy of woe ;

Whilst Christian charity, enshrin’d above,

Whose name is mercy and whose soul is love,

Feels the just hatred that your deeds inspire,

And where she smil’d in kindness burns with ire.

See

02

LA BALIA.

Ogni animai , eli è in terra, vi condanna :

La Pietà, che dal Cielo il tutto mira,

Di là, per nò 'l veder, gli occhi s' appanna .

La Carità materna ne sospira ;

E la Cristiana di benfare ingorda,

Quanto arder suol d ' amor, tanto arde d ' ira.

La Nobiltà dell ' altrui macchie lorda,

Via piu eli altra che sia, par che si lagne ;
Che col sangue contrario mal s' accorda.

Valor, e Cortesia seco ne piagne,

E la Creanza, ed ogni altra virtude,

Che della Nobiltà sono compagne. >

I vostri figli con quel pianto rude, '

Quando fere maggior le orecchie vostre,
Chiaman voi> Madri, dispietaie, e crude.

In somma il vostro error par che ognun mostre ;
Contra voi gridi 'l del, la terra, e 'l mare, ,

Il petto, il sangue, le viscere vostre.

Disponetevi ornai, Donne mie care,

Al santo ujficio, ad opra così buona,

Miglior, di quante ne potreste fare.

i

E 'n dirvi Donne, intendo ogni persona
Del nobil sesso ; ed una non ne salvo,

Sia quantunque * *

THE NURSE.

03

See true nobility laments his lot.

Indignant of the foul degrading blot ;

And courtesy and courage o’er him bend,

And all the virtues that his state attend.

« *■ A

But whence that cry that steals upon the sense !
’Tis the low wail of injur’d innocence ;

Accents unform’d, that yet can speak their wrongs
Loud as the pleadings of a hundred tongues.

See in dread witness all creation rise,

' • ’ • - ' v • . ‘ -, ' V ‘ t

The peopled earth, deep seas, and circling skies ;
Whilst conscience with consenting voice within,
Becomes accomplice and avows the sin.

Ah then, by duty led, ye nuptial fair,

Let the sweet office be your constant care.

With peace and health in humblest station blest,

Give to the smiling babe the fostering breast ;[cc)

*

Nor if by prosperous fortune placed on high,

Think ought superior to the dear employ.

Shall the lov’d burthen that so long ye bore,

Your alter’d kindness from its birth deplore ?

Whilst

64

LA BALIA .

Portate tutte i vostri [ larti , salvo

Quelle eli anno il [ietto arido , o son egre,
Così or nel grembo, come pria nell ’ alvo.

Nodritevegli voi ognor piu allegre,

Perchè parte maggior non v abbia il Padre ;
Siate de ’ Figli vostri Madri integre,

Non è pazzia, Giovani mie leggiadre,

Che nobil Donna potendo esser tutta ,

Mezza si faccia del suo figlio madre P

Che foggia è questa così scema, e brutta
Di mezze Madri, e di partito pondo,

Dal gran nemico su la terra indutta P

Così fu sempre, mi direte, il mondo :

Quel che le nostre Madri a noi già denno,

Or noi rendemo ai figli . Io vi rispondo,

Facendo voi quel, eli altre pria non fenno,
Senza che Chiesa il dica, o Re il comandi,
Maggior sarà la bontà vostra, e 7 senno.

E quanto più sarete illustri, e grandi

Primiere a [toner man, che ai nostri tempi
Pensier sì santo in opera si mandi ;

Pili sarete cagion coi vostri esempi,

Che d ’ imitarvi ognuna si diletti,

Coni ella in voi tanta virtù contempi .

THE NURSE.

Whilst the fair orbs with healthful nurture swell’d
Throb for the kind relief by you withheld ?

Not half a mother she whose pride denies
The streaming beverage to her infant’s cries,
Admits another in her rights to share,

And ti'usts his nurture to a stranger’s care ; (dd)
But you whose hearts with gentle pity warm,

Pure joys can please and genuine pleasures charm,
Clasp your fair nurselings to your breasts of snow,
And give the sweet salubrious streams to flow,

Let kind affections sway without controul,

And thro’ the milk-stream pour the feeling soul.

— What tho’ th’ inveterate crime, the dire disgrace
From elder years to modern times we trace,

Nor earthly laws its wasteful rage restrain,

Be yours the task to break the wizard chain ;

So shall the glorious deed your sex inspire,

All earth applaud you, and all heaven admire.

O happier times, to truth and virtue dear.

Roll swiftly on ! O golden days appear !

60

LA BALIA .

Or se vedessi ( o giorni benedetti ! )

Le Colonne, le Ursine, le Gonsaghe ,

Ed altre tai co cari figli ai petti ;

Non spereresti, Italia, le tue piaghe
Veder sane, e tornar V antica gloria,

E quelle genti tue d ’ onor sì vaghe ?

Vedessi la seconda tua Vittoria,

D' età seconda, ma di fama prima,

Onde il mio buon Toledo oggi si gloria .

E piu per lei sè stesso or pregia, e stima,

Che per quante vittorie Adria, e Tirreno,
Affrica, ed Asia, ed Mondo gli di er prima.

Vedessi lei nel casto, inclito seno

Stringer dolce Bambino, e trarne fiore
Nettar celeste, non liquor terreno .

Non ti parria veder Febo, ed Amore
Poppar sua Madre ; e d bel Bambin non latte
Ivi ber, ma virtù, senno, e valore ?

Donne illustri, e da Dio per norma fatte
Dell' altre Donne ; la cui luce splende
Sovra quantod sol fere, e V onda batte;

Poiché il riposo, e V onor nostro pende
Dai figli ( quai si sieno ) di voi altre ;

Se d ’ allattarli voi vi si contende,

Almeno in cercar Balie siate scaltre.

IL FINE DELLA BALIA .

THE NURSE.

07

■4

Of noble birth, when every matron dame,

Shall the high meed of female merit claim ;
Then loveliest, when her babe in native charms
Hangs on her breast or dances in her arms,
Thus late with angel grace along the plain,
Illustrious Devon led Britannia’s train ; (ee)

And whilst by frigid fashion unreprest,

She to chaste transports open’d all her breast,
Joy’d her lov’d babe its playful hands to twine
Round her fair neck, or midst her locks divine,
And from the fount with every grace imbued,
Drank heavenly nectar, not terrestrial food.

— So Venus once, in fragrant bowers above,
Clasp’d to her rosy breast immortal love ;
Transfus’d soft passion thro’ his tingling frame,
The nerve of rapture, and the heart of flame.
Yet not with wanton hopes and fond desires,
Her infant’s veins the British matron fires ;

But prompts the aim to crown by future worth
The proud preeminence of noble birth.

THE END.

/

NOTES.

CANTO I.

( a ) Whilst yet conceal’ d, in life’s primavai folds.

Many of the arguments adduced by Tansillo in the foregoing poem, may be
found in the Nodes Attica of Aulus Gellius, Uh. xii. cap 1. Where that author
has inserted a dissertation of the philosopher Favorinus on this subject, in which
is the following passage, which the Italian poet has closely followed, £C Quod est
(e enim hoc contra naturam imperfectum atque dimidiatum matris genus, peperis-
££ se, ac statini ab sese abjecisse ? aluissein utero, sanguine suo, nescio quid, quod
“ non videret : non alere nunc suo lacte quod videat, jam viventem, jam hominem,
u jam matris officia implorantem ?” That the abuse is of very ancient date is
sufficiently evident, as well from this passage as from many others in the Roman
authors, but the plea of prescription ought not to be allowed in this case, nor ought
a reform to be wholly despaired of ; for certainly nullum tempus occurrit natura .

(b) Hangs on the lip , or wantons in the cheek.

From Favorinus again, ££ An tu quoque putas, naturam feminis mammarum
££ ubera, quasi quosdam nsevulos venustiores, non liberorum alendorum, sed or-
££ nandi pectoris causa dedisse ?”

(c) And with disease contaminate the blood.

That the refusal of a mother to give suck to her child is a deviation from one
of the first laws of nature, is clearly evinced by the unfavourable effect this con-
duct produces on the health of the mother ; who frequently incurs by this fashion-
able

NOTES

. . CANTO I.

2

onable act of imprudence the risk of her own life, as well as that of her child.
44 Sic enim, quod à vobis scilicet abest, pleraeque istae prodigiosa^ mulieres fontem
44 ilium sanctissimum corporis, generis humani educatorem, arefacere et extinguere
44 cum periculo quoque aversi corruptique lactis laborant, tamquam pulchritu-

44 dinis sibi insignia devenustet.” 44 On verrà” says a celebrated writer on this

subject, 44 que les femmes qui allaitent elles-mèmes leurs enfans, jouissent de la
44 santé la plus parfaite ; tandis que celles qui se dispensent de ce soin, & qui le
44 font nourrir par des étrangeres, sont livrées à une foule de maux qui sont tou-
44 jours difficiles à guérir, & souvent dangereux pour leur vie.”

M. de Puzos.

( d ) The kindred guilt that marks this dread offence.

This comparison between the mother who wilfully destroys her child before
its birth, and the mother who wilfully suffers it to perish after its birth, for want
of its proper nutriment, though adopted from Favorinus by Tansillo, is thought
by his Italian editor to stand in need of an apology; he therefore expressly declares,
that his author in this instance must be presumed to have exercised his privilege
as a poet, and to have followed rather the precepts of the heathen philosopher than
the principles of sound morality. The passage in the Italian is perhaps more objec-
tionable than in the translation ; for the author expressly asserts his opinion that
44 between the two crimes there is not one ounce of difference.” In the* Roman
author it stands thus, 44 Quod cum sit publica detestatione communique odio
44 dignum, in ipsis hominem primordiis, dum fingitur, dum animatur, inter ipsas
44 artificis naturae manus interfectum ire ; quantulum hinc abest, jam perfectum,
44 jam genitum, jam filiurn, proprii atque consueti atque cogniti sanguinis alimo-
44 nia privare ?”

(e) And rohs her helpless young of half the boon.

That the general plea of inability on the part of the mother to suckle her child,
is in most instances fallacious, may be presumed from the fact adverted to in the
text, namely, that the same nutriment which supports the child before its birth,
is still destined to its use afterwards, tho’ differently modified, according to the
difference in the relative situation of the parties ; from which it may be established,
as a general rule (not however without some particular exceptions) that she who
can support a child to its full birth, can also, if she chooses, support it after-
wards. Whoever has attentively observed the extreme and almost superabundant

caution

NOTES CANTO I.

3

caution of nature apparent in the preservation and increase of both the animal and
vegetable creation, will not easily be led to believe, that at this crisis, of all others
the most important, she has left her work imperfect.

(f) Up ^ e breasts, a living river, sprung .

(( An quia spiritu multo, et calore exalbuit non idem sanguis est nunc in
“ uberibus, qui in utero fuit ? Nonne hac quoque in re, solertia naturae evidens
ee est ? quod postquam sanguis ille opifex in penetralibus suis omne corpus ho-
“ minis finxit, ad ventanti jam partus tempore, in supernas se partes proferì et ad
“ fovenda vitae, atque lucis rudimenta praesto est, & recens natis notum & famili-
(C arem victum offert.”

Favorin. ut supr.

(g) iVith strength unconquer’ d and resistless rage.

The instinctive affection of brute animals towards their young, is so powerful
as to have been frequently employed by the poets in describing the most extreme
attachment and fidelity.

As for his whelps
u The lion stands ; him thro’ some forest drear
“ Leading his little ones, the hunters meet;

Fire glimmers in his looks, and down he draws
ce His whole brow into frowns, covering his eyes ;

“ So, guarding slain Patroclus, Ajax lour’d.”

Cowper s Iliad, h. 17.

Ariosto, in his Orlando, canto 19, st. 1 , has the following beautiful comparison.

“ Come orsa che 1’ alpestre cacciatore
u Nella petrosa tana assalit’ abbia,
ce Stà sopra i figli con incerto core ,

(C E freme in suona di pietà e rabbia ;

“ Ira la invita, e naturai furore,

(e A spiegar 1’ unghie, a insanguinar le labbia,

“ Amor la intenerisce, e la ritira

<e A riguardare i figli in mezzo all’ ira.”

(h) Peru

4

NOTES

• • • •

CANTO I.

( h ) Peru , or Spain, or either India sends.

It is related by Plutarch, that when Julius Caesar saw some rich strangers
walking through the streets of Rome, fondling and playing with lapdogs and mon-
keys which they carried with them, he asked, whether their wives did not bear
children. But what would Caesar have thought in our days, says the Italian
annotator, if he had seen even a mother, bestow upon the offspring of a brute
that fondness and attention which she denies to her own child ? This detestable
custom, which outrages nature, and satirizes humanity, is probably more frequent
in Italy than in this country ; but is not even here so totally banished, as to ren-
der the application of this passage of the poem wholly irrelevant.

(i) No other debt your injur’d offspring knows.

“ Facit parentes bonitas, non necessitasi’

Says Phaedrus in the xv. fable of his 3d book, the whole of which is strikingly
apposite to this subject.

(k) At length the mercenary aid is found.

That there are instances in which it is impracticable or improper for the
mother to give suck to her child, cannot be denied. By a certain absurd cus-
tom, which has often prevailed, and may soon prevail again in this island, the
nipple of the female breast is frequently so depressed as to render it throughout
life totally unfit for the purpose for which it was by nature intended, and the mo-
ther, though enjoying a strong and healthy constitution, and with the sincerest dis-
positions to perform this first duty to her offspring, finds herself debarred of the
pleasure, and perhaps irreparably injured in her health, from the effects of this
worse than barbarous fashion. Neither can it be contended, that where the mo-
ther is affected by any chronic or hereditary malady, she ought to bring up her
child with her own milk ; on the contrary, every effort ought to be made,
consistent with the health of the foster-mother, to obliterate by more health-
ful nutriment, the effects of the original taint. But except in these instances,
and perhaps some few others of a similar nature, it may be asserted with con-
fidence, that every mother can and ought to suckle her own offspring. The
pretence that a woman is of too delicate a habit to afford sufficient nutriment
for a child, is fully refuted by the undeniable fact, that she has already supported
it to the time of its birth. (( Une femme qui est devenue grosse,” says the au-
thor

NOTES

• •

. . CANTO I.

5

thor above cited, cc Se qui malgré la delicatesse de son tempérament, a conduit
“ sa grosesse à terme, est à plus forte raison en état d’ allaiter son enfant ; car il
u faut plus de force pour former un enfant que pour le nourrir.” M. de Puzos.

(/) So your stall’ d offspring vegetates and lives.

u Sed nihil interest (hoc enim dicitur) dum alatur, & vivat, cujus id lacte fiat.”

Favor . ut sup .

( m ) His earliest wants a stranger breast supplies.

<( Cur igitur iste qui hoc dicit, si in capessendis naturae sensibus tarn obsurduit,
u non id quoque nihil interesse putat, cujus in corpore, cujusque ex sanguine con-
(( cretus homo & coalitus sit.” Favor, ut supr.

(n) A groveling being with a groveling mind.

u Quae (malum !) igitur ratio est, nobilitatem istam nati modo hominis, cor-
u pusque, & animum benigne ingenitis primordiis inchoatum, insitivo, degeneri-
u que alimento lactis alieni corrumpere ? praesertim si ista, quam ad praebendum
“ lac tunc adhibebitis, aut serva, aut servilis ; &, ut plerumque solet, externae at-
(C que barbarae nationis ; si improba, si informis, si impudica, si temulenta est.
u Patiemurne igitur, infantem hunc nostrum pernicioso contagio infici, & spiri-
“ turn ducere in animum, atque in corpus suum, ex corpore & animo deterrimo?”

Favor, ut supr.

(o') The mother s office with a stream as pure.

This custom among the Spanish matrons of assisting each other in the impor-
tant office of rearing their offspring, is, as we are informed by the annotations of
Ranza, more peculiar to Gallicia, than the other provinces of that country. It
cannot perhaps be denied, that if this duty must be performed by a substitute, it
is a far more agreeable idea to intrust it to a person of character and honour, who
has generosity enough to undertake it gratuitously, that to one whose dispositions
and character are unknown ; but it must also be confessed, that however laudable
the custom may be, there is little hope, in the present state of society, of seeing
it extended to this country, nor perhaps even in that case would it be attended
with all the advantages expected from it. It will be sufficient if our dames of
fashion condescend to perform this duty for themselves, without requiring them

to

G

NOTES . .

• •

CANTO II.

to afford their assistance to another. A custom in a great degree similar, and not
less commendable, seems to have been established among the Romans, where
some matron of distinguished credit and character, devoted herself to the care of
an infant family, and to the formation of their minds to habits of modesty and
virtue, without however interfering in the office of nutrition, which was wholly
performed by the mother herself. Of this character of a nurse a beautiful picture
is given in the treatise De Oratoribus , attributed by some to Tacitus, and by
others to Quintilian. “ Jam primum suus cuique filius ex casta parente natus,
“ non in cella emtas Nutricis, sed gremio, ac sinu Matris educabatur ; cujus
praecipua laus erat tueri domum, & inservire liberis. Eligebatur autem aliqua
“ major natu, propinqua, cujus probatis, spectatisque moribus omnis cujuspiam
“ familiae suboles committeretur, coram qua neque dicere fas erat, quod turpe
i( dictu, neque facere quod inhonestum factu videretur. Ac non studia modo,
(C curasque, sed remissiones etiam, lususque puerorum, sanctitate quadam, ac ve-
“ recundia temperabat. Sic Corneliam Gracchorum, sic Aureliam Caesaris, sic
(e Attiam Augusti matrem praefuisse educationibus, ac produxisse principes liberos
“ accepimus. Quae disciplina, ac severitas eo pertinebat, ut sincera, & integra,
“ & nullis pravitatibus detorta uniuscujusque natura, toto statim pectore arripe-
u ret artes honestas ; & sive ad rem militarem, sive ad juris scientiam, sive ad
“ eloquentiae studi um inclinasset, id solum ageret, id universum hauriret.”

(p) And various as the breasts on which they hung.

“ Id hercle ipsum est, quod saepenumero miramur, quosdam pudicarum mu-
ce lierum liberos, parentum suorum neque corporibus neque animis similes exsis-
ee tere.” Favor in. in Geli .

CANTO II.

(q) And cause defects that manhood may retain.

As the absurd custom of binding down infants hand and foot with bandages,
lest their limbs should shoot out into excrescencies and irregularities, has at length
given way to the voice of reason and common sense, so it may yet be hoped, that
the custom referred to in the poem, which is neither less unnatural nor less inju-

rious

NOTES .... CANTO II.

7

rious, will in time give way to admonitions frequently repeated, and to the influ-
ence of those excellent examples, the number of which is now daily increasing
among our fair countrywomen.

(r) On the young habe the imitative stains.

The progress of reason and the increasing influence of good sense, have at length
nearly banished an opinion formerly very prevalent, and productive of great un-
happiness to the female sex, namely, that the child before its birth is liable to be
partially affected by the imagination of the mother. It cannot indeed be doubted
that any circumstance which produces a powerful effect on the mother herself, as
sudden fright, apprehension, or distress, will affect the infant of which she is
pregnant, and may even occasion its death. But, that peculiar impressions on the
mind of the mother during pregnancy, produce external marks on the body of the
infant, is an assertion, which after all the pretended proofs that have been alledg-
ed in support of it, an attentive inquirer will still be inclined to deny. Not so
however the Italian commentator Ranza, who is strongly disposed to countenance
the idea, and relates a story of a woman, who after gazing for the first time with
great curiosity on an elephant, produced a child with a divided upper lip, from
whence appeared a projection resembling an elephant’s trunk. That infants are
occasionally brought into the world with peculiar defects or singularities is cer-
tain ; but it is perhaps equally certain, that these singularities would have existed
if no such impressions on the imagination had taken place, and that when such
circumstance occurs, the mother, unwilling to be supposed to have deviated from
the rest of the world without a cause, endeavours in the events of nine months,
to recall some one which may be presumed to have occasioned the peculiarity of
appearance observable in her offspring. The reasons that might be adduced for
this incredulity on a subject which has yet many adherents, are briefly these,

1. The circumstances are not connected together by the usual relation of
cause and effect. Every woman in the course of her pregnancy experiences innu-
merable sensations of surprize, desire, aversion, or dread, and yet no indications of
it appear in her offspring. Whilst the incidents to which these deformities are re-
ferred, are frequently of the most trivial nature, and such as without having been
called to mind by some future circumstance, would have been wholly forgotten.

2. In insanity or lunacy, the imagination is so strongly impressed as to take
for reality things the most preposterous, and yet no instances are recorded of chil-
dren under such circumstances having exhibited peculiar marks.

3. In

8

NOTES .... CANTO II.

3. In the animal as well as vegetable system, there are many circumstances
difficult to comprehend, but none that involve a contradiction of the known and
established laws of nature ; but a greater contradiction to those laws can scarcely
be conceived, than that a mere idea passing through the brain of the mother,
should attach itself to some particular part of the child. Nature does not perform
miracles ; her operations are consistent.

4. Appearances of this nature on the offspring are not usually resemblances
of those objects which the mother may reasonably be supposed to have most ar-
dently desired. If the doctrine were true, we should probably see our offspring
marked with other figures than those of cherries and of strawberries ; and should
occasionally have to admire the imitative wonders of a gold watch, a diamond
necklace, a noble coronet, or a crane-necked coach.

(s) On the young babe the birth of yesterday.

If this argument be adduced to shew that the child is liable to be affected in
its health by the milk of the nurse, as an adult is by the nutriment which he re-
ceives, there can be no hesitation in assenting to it, but if, as it appears by the
context, the author means to shew that the disposition of the infant’s mind is al-
tered by the nature of his nutriment, the examples are not strictly apposite. A
man may be relieved by medicine, intoxicated by strong liquors, or injured by
poison, but it may not follow from thence, that a child imbibes the disposition
of his nurse. A defective argument is however no proof that the proposition which
it is intended to support, is untrue. The idea that the nurse imparts to the child
dispositions similar to her own, is of very ancient standing, “ Nec unquam eos,”
says Columella, lib. vii. cap. 12. “ quorum genesam volumus indolem conservare,
<c patiemur alienae nutricis uberibus educari : quoniam semper, et lac et spiritus
(( maternus longe magis ingenii atque incrementa corporis auget.” The intem-
perance of Tiberius is upon the same principle ascribed to his nurse by an Italian
author.

u Fu conosciuto quanto il latte può,
u Nella nutrice, che allattò Tiberio,
cc La qual sempre a’ suoi dì s’ imbriacò :

“ Ond’ egli ancor non stetti mai sul serio,

“ Perchè sempre era cotto, e si beeva,

“ Che non Tiberio, detto fu Biberio.” Fagiuoli .

The

NOTES

• • » •

CANTO IL

The same author attributes the want of affection frequently observable among
brothers, to a like cause. 1

“ Da che credete voi, nasca 1’ amara,

(( Discrepanza d’ umori, e che s’ avverrà,
ce Che de’ fratelli è la concordia rara ?

f( Perchè ebber varie balie, ed i pensieri,
u Bevver col latte, lor diversi, e varj ;

“ Ond’ altri pigri sono, altri son fieri

( t ) Soon mourns its fragrance lost , its strength decay'd.

“ In arboribus etiam & frugibus major plerumque vis, & potestas est ad ea-
“ rum indolem vel detrectandam, vel augendam, aquarum atque terrarum, quae
“ alunt, quam ipsius quod jacitur seminis. Ac saepe videas arborem laetam &
(( nitentem in alium locum transpositam, deteriori succo deperiisse.”

Favorin . ap. Geli.

( u ) And to a mother s office joins the name.

(C Ipsius quoque infantis affectio animi, amoris, consuetudinis, in ea sola unde
u alitur, occupatur ; & proinde (ut in expositis usu venit) matris, quae genuit,
“ neque sensum ullum, neque desiderium caepit. Ac propterea obliteratis, & a-
(( bolitis nativae pietatis elementis, quicquid ita educati liberi amare patrem, atque
(( matrem videntur, magnam fere partem non naturalis ille amor est, sed civilis^
(e & opiniabilis.” Favorin. ut sup.

(w) JVbo dies untimely , than who lives forgot.

66 Et praeter haec autem, quis illud etiam negligere, aspernarique possit, quod
u quae partus suos deserunt, ablegantque a se se, & aliis nutriendos dedunt, vin-
“ culum illud, coagulumque animi, atque amoris, quo parentes cum filiis Natura
(S consociat, interscindunt, aut certe quidem diluunt, deteruntque ? Nam ubi in-
(( fantis aliorsum dati facta ex oculis amolitio est, vigor ille maternae flagrantiae
u sensim, atque paullatim restinguitur, omnisque impatientissimae sollicitudinis
u strepitus consilescit.” Favorin. ut sup.

(v) O’er lawless love to wave his scorpion rod.

The resentment shewn by the author against hired nurses, may in many in-
stances

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NOTES

• • • •

CANTO II.

stances be just, but he has totally forgotten to enumerate the injuries and disad-
vantages which the nurse herself experiences. The first sacrifice which she is re-
quired to make, a sacrifice necessary perhaps for her subsistence, is to suppress
her maternal feelings, and by discarding her own child, make way for that of
another. From that moment all her cares and attention are expected to be trans-
ferred to her adopted child, as effectually as if her affections had been changed by
a miracle, or an act of parliament. When this point is accomplished, and she can
“ forget her sucking child,” she is then qualified for her office, and has all the
trouble and anxiety of a mother without her enjoyments. This employment she
is to exercise under the immediate direction and controul of a superior, who, con-
scious that she has deserted her own duty, weakly endeavours to compensate for
the performance of it by an extraordinary degree of fondness for her child, and the
nurse (whose affection for it is often much more sincere than that of the mother)
is continually harrassed with directions, cautions, and reproofs, that embitter
every moment of her life. If her negligence affords a just ground of complaint,
her fondness excites a secret jealousy in the breast of the mother, who, whilst she
refuses to take those methods which nature has prescribed, to secure the affections
of a child, repines when she sees them transferred to another. That the dreadful
circumstance to which the author adverts in the text, sometimes happens, cannot
be denied ; but it may with confidence be asserted, that it is at least as usual for
the nurse to receive infection from the child, as the child from the nurse ; and for
this relinquishment of the dearest ties in nature, this abdication of her own hum-
ble but peaceful roof, and renunciation of domestic enjoyment ; this certainty of
suffering much, and probability of becoming a prey to disorders which may never
be eradicated, she is to rest satisfied with a pitiful compensation in money, whilst
the dissipated mother pursues her pleasures, and joins in the sentiments of the poet
against the pride, the obstinacy, and the extravagance of a hireling nurse.

(_y) For witness , Ariosto’s scenes peruse.

I suppositi , a comedy of that author. This circumstance may sometimes hap-
pen, says the Italian editor, but perhaps not so frequently as it is suspected. For
the parent, observing with disgust, low dispositions and vulgar manners in a child
that has been long intrusted to a hired nurse, is apt to conceive that it is impos-
sible such child can be his own. He should however remember, continues the
editor, that the manners and disposition of the child are precisely those of the
nurse who suckled and caressed him, and instilled into him her own sentiments
and habits.

(3) With

NOTES

• • • •

CANTO IL

U

(2) With sage examples drawn from ancient times .

It would be strange indeed if the authority of antiquity should be required in
support of a practice so essentially necessary to the very existence of the human
race, as that of a mother giving suck to her own child ; and it is certainly only
as a satire upon his countrywomen, that Tacitus notes this circumstance as a
particularity in the manners of the ancient Germans. “ Sua quamque mater
“ uberibus alit, nec ancillis ac nutricibus delegantur.” If the reverse of this
had been true, and the historian had remarked that women of rank thought
themselves degraded if they nursed their own offspring, and such task was there-
fore delegated to the lowest of the people, it might have been thought extraordi-
nary, and would have nearly rivalled that fashionable practice among the in-
habitants of the south sea islands, of exposing their children; a practice much
more similar, both in its motives and effects, to that of sending out a child to
nurse, than is generally imagined. “ An non expositionis genus est, infan tulum
“ tenerum, adhuc a matre rubentem, matrem spirantem, matris opem ea voce
“ implorantem, quae movere dicitur et feras, tradere mulieri fortassis nec corpore
i( salubri, nec moribus integris ; denique cui pluris sit pecuniae pauxillum, quam
“ totus infans tuus ?” Erasm. in Puerpera.

(aa) Who to another give their offspring'’ s due.

This circumstance is differently explained by Fagiuoli, who conceives, that
Romulus and Remus imbibed their ferocity with the milk that supported them.

u E per prova si è visto infin, che quegli,
u Ch’ ebbe latte di bestia, fu efficace
“ A farlo bestia diventare aneli’ egli.

“ Ebbe Romolo, e Remo una vorace
u Lupa per Balia ; ed ambedue redaro
“ L’ inclinazione sua ladra, e rapace.”

(hh) Her precepts slighted , and her bounties vain.

u Reclamat . . . ipsa natura. Cur terra dicitur omnium parens ? An quod
“ gignat tantum ? Imo multo magis quod nutriat ea, quae genuit. Quod aqua
“ gignit, in aquis educatur. In terra nullum animantis, aut plantae genus nasci-
<c tur, quod eadem terra succo suo non alat ; nec est ullum animantis genus, quod
(( non alat suos foetus, ululae, leones, et viperae educant partus suos ; et homines
“ suos foetus abjiciunt ?”

(cc) Give

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NOTES

• • • •

CANTO II.

(ce) Give to the smiling babe the fostering breast .

ce Quoties audis puerum tuum vagientem, crede, ilium hoc abs te flagitare
“ Cum vides in pectore duos istos veluti fonticulos turgidos, ac lacteo liquore
“ vel suapte sponte manantes, crede naturam admonere te tui officii. Ali-
“ oqui cum infans jam fari meditabitur, ac blanda balbutie te mammam vocabit,
u qua fronte hoc audies ab eo, cui mammam negàris, & ad conducticiam mam-
“ mam relegàris, perinde quasi caprae, aut ovi subjecisses ? Ubi jam erit fandi
“ potens, quid si te pro matre yocet semimatrem ? Virgam expedies, opinor.
C( Atqui vix semimater est quae recusat alere quod peperit.” Erasm. ut sup.

( dd ) And trusts his nurture to a stranger s care.

ce Oro te (inquit) Mulier, sine earn totam, ac integram esse matrem filii sui.
(C Quod est enim hoc contra Naturnum imperfectum, atque dimidiatum matris
ce genus . . . ?” Favor in. ap Geli.

(ee) Illustrious Devon led Britannia s train.

That example which the Italian poet could only wish for, this country has ex-
perienced^ in the conduct of the Duchess of Devonshire; who, though
moving in the most elevated sphere of society, with every grace of person, and
every accomplishment of mind, did not conceive that either these, or any other
circumstances attending her high rank, dispensed with the sacred obligation of a
mother to nurse her own offspring. On the contrary, in defiance of custom, and
in contempt of unfeeling fashion, she persevered in the performance of this in-
dispensable duty, and is said to have found her reward in the great resemblance
in constitution and disposition between the child she nursed and herself.

One such example as this, is a more convincing refutation of all the argu-
ments against this salutary custom, than can be derived either from the imagina-
tion of the poet, or the reasonings of the philosopher ; and it will be a lasting re-
proach to the present age, if SUCH AN ILLUSTRIOUS INSTANCE OF MATERNAL
fidelity, should fail of producing its full effect, in the promotion of that great
and radical reform in the feelings and manners of domestic life, upon which
the cause of virtue, of truth, and of liberty, and all the best interests
of human society immediately depend.

THE END.

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